The eight soldiers were with Pfc. Jessica Lynch when their unit, the 507th Maintenance Company, was ambushed near Nasiriyah on March 23. 

The U.S. commandos who freed Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah this week also found 11 bodies, nine of which were believed to be those of Americans. The nine bodies had been returned to a forensics center at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for identification and investigation of how they died. 

The Pentagon issued a statement early Saturday morning saying the status of the eight soldiers had been changed from missing to killed. 

The soldiers were: 

-Sgt. George E. Buggs, 31, of Barnwell, S.C. 

-Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy, 38, of Cleveland. 

-Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, of El Paso, Texas. 

-Spc. James M. Kiehl, 22, of Comfort, Texas. 

-Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, 35, of Amarillo, Texas. 

-Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, 23, of Tuba City, Ariz. 

-Pvt. Brandon U. Sloan, 19, of Cleveland. 

-Sgt. Donald R. Walters, 33, of Kansas City, Mo. 

All were members of the 507th Maintenance, an army unit based at Fort Bliss, Texas. 

The ninth body taken to Dover has not been identified. 

Five members of the unit remain listed as prisoners of war. Shortly after the unit's ambush, the five were shown on Iraqi state-run television being questioned by their captors. 

Iraqi television also showed footage of at least five bodies. After viewing that footage, Pentagon officials accused Iraq of executing prisoners of war. 

There was no immediate word from the Pentagon Saturday on whether the soldiers were killed in the ambush or afterward.