CLEVELAND -- A local father is speaking out on what really happened during an ambush attack in Iraq when his son was killed.

Members of the 507th maintenance unit, including Army privates Jessica Lynch and Brandon Sloan, 19, came under attack in March.

Sloan's father, The Rev. Tandy Sloan, told NewsChannel5 that some of the soldiers in the unit were intentionally left behind to fight for themselves.

Military leaders said the group made a wrong turn near the town of Nasiriyah. But Sloan said that is just half the story.

"Because of the pace of the attack, it was determined they didn't want to wait for those that didn't keep up," Sloan said.

Sloan said his son's unit was in the back of a convoy, several thousand strong, driving trucks with heavy equipment that couldn't keep up. When the group made a wrong turn there wasn't enough manpower to fight off the enemy.

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Sloan Among Dead Local Soldiers Killed

Sloan said a general in the U.S. army told him that his son's unit was ambushed after the rest of the soldiers left behind the members of the unit who were driving heavier loads of equipment and moving slower.

"This is what led to the demise of the 507th. It wasn't a wrong turn. The wrong turn occurred because they were left," Sloan said.

Sloan finds comfort in the fact that Jessica Lynch survived, but lashed out at what he calls propaganda surrounding her rescue.

"The administration is using this opportunity to divert attention away from the real issue surrounding the attack," he said. "It's very disgusting quite frankly."

Sloan said he was stunned when he was briefed on the attack.

Meanwhile, Jessica Lynch holds nothing back in her exclusive interview with Diane Sawyer, on NewsChannel5 Tuesday night in a special edition of "Primetime" from 9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.