Posted on 08/08/2005 9:32:05 AM PDT by Crackingham
Actually, the state of West Virginia has a number of scholarships for state residents. It's probably one of those plus whatever tuition benefits she might have earned from the Army.
On March 24, 2003, the front page of The New York Post had a full-page photo of a pile of dead bodies in a room accompanied by a tattered, swarthy man who was smiling like a clown for the camera.
The caption said "Savages: Iraqi fiends execute American POW's".
Just ask Sen. Durbin!
Vs. just being a subpar unit disrupter?...Take Hero hon...
Here we go again! "I'm a victim!" (Whine) "I was used!" (Snivel!) The army is better now that she is not in uniform.
And based on what I have read, this old soldier submits that the incident in Iraq would not have happened if the leadership in the unit had known how to read a map.
There's also the matter of another basic soldier skill: keeping your weapon clean so that it won't jam when you need it. I don't recall hearing stories of the weapons of soldiers in other units jamming at a critical moment, even in the sandstorm that occurred. Why? Because instead of smoking and joking in the rear, good soldiers spend their time maintaining their individual and crew-served weapons, and good leaders frequently inspect the weapons to make sure they are maintained.
Sounds more like Time was trying to create the anti-military headling than Jessica Lynch. It was a very leading question.
Jessica, dear. Go get a job.
This gives new meaning to "A Mountaineer is always free".
The real question would be whether she could go back to the day she stepped into the recruiter's office and instead keep on walking past it.
Pose this question to the folks returning from Iraq who are maimed and injured and I'd be curious what their answers would be.
That being said, I think Lynch's quote is being blown out of proportion a little bit.
Her analysis is wrong, or at best, imcomplete.
Jessica served as only the first example of what
was to become characteristic of how our soldiers were
portrayed: the only "heroes" were hapless victims, like her. It was primarily the MSM that created this slant, but
CentCom didn't seem too eager to correct it. I think she was personally insulted by the media's picture of her as fighting off the enemy right up to her very last bullet, when she knew she did no such thing.
It was addressed last that her tuition was being paid by her GI BILL education benefits.
She was bound to say a few things like this anyway. There was nothing in her life before being taken POW that would have prepared her for the media circus she went through and I bet her head was spinning 24/7.
Not being preapared, she probably didn't like or want that attention at first, but maybe it grew on her. So all of a sudden everybody hangs on her every word for awhile until it all wears off.
Now she finds that she has to say something way out there to get any attention. Not too mention that "journalists" could have led her to say something they could use. They know more about getting a "good" quote than she does about not giving them what they are fishing for.
I hope she can get her education and fade into the background. That would be best for her right now.
The U.S. Army awarded her the Bronze Star for distinguishing herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service conisting of this:
1. Caught in ambush.
2. Some of her injuries were a result of the Humvee crash she was riding in.
3. Her weapon jammed because she failed to clean it.
4. With jammed weapon and still in the back of the vehicle, according to her, "...I lowered my head down to my knees, and I closed my eyes..." (while 11 in her group were killed during the firefight).
That's heroic or meritorious achievement or service?
To me this smacks of what is going wrong in our country. Dumbing down everything: Heroes, education, etc.. When the Lynch issue came out, I felt this was nothing but trying to make Lynch a Joan (John) Wayne-type. Sure enough! The truth came out. A Marine combat veteran in Iraq put it this way:
If Lynch deserves a Bronze Star (which she doesn't), then they (those engaged in daily combat) deserve a Medal of Honor. Lynch got a Bronze Star as a publicity stunt for the Army. She got it because she is a woman. It's just that simple. If she had been a man, no one would've cared. It is sad to see that in today's world of equality, in the 21st Century, such a thing would happen. Lynch is nothing but a publicity doll for the Army and an embarrassment to the United States military and the true heroes of our nation.
Other input:
She will now become the icon, the symbol of everything the radical feminists desire in completely 'feminizing' the U.S. military. They have their woman-in-combat heroine who will pave the way for some woman, sometime, to become the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - or maybe even the Commander in Chief. All for personal gain. All for the exercise of matriarchal political power in America. And all contributing to the reality of the deterioration of combat effectiveness, the loss of the 'warrior ethos' in our armed forces and, most importantly, a degradation of America's ability to defend itself when faced with an opponent other than a Third-World country.
Further reading: The Mythical Modern American War Hero.
Fair enough Jessica. You claim you are no hero and used as a symbol.
Then be a hero and return your Bronze Star!!.
Poor Jessica doesn't realize it was the media who used her not the US military. What a ditz.
Ms Lynch, Thank you for the sacrifice you have made for your country. God bless you.
Ah, well...stupider people than J. Lynch have served their country willingly, as she did, and gotten more than they bargained for. And are respected for it.
Why, when I was in grade school there was this boy who used to chase me home, cheat on tests, talk back to teachers and one day he even humped a coatrack in the schoolroom and laughed about it, and that was in 1959. But when he came back from Viet Nam in '67 with one less leg, I stopped saying unkind things about him for the next 38 years until now, and believe me he was a real assclown.
Therefore I have nothing unkind to utter aloud about J. Lynch. She's been through some serious crap, and it could take years to mature and sort it out.
Neither do her fat book advance, movie deals and other fat cat endorsments.
Everyone knows the famous WWII photo of the Marines raising the U.S. Flag on Iwo Jima, and most Freepers probably also know that photo was somewhat choreographed, perhaps the flag was even raised several times to get just the right shot.
The point is, sometimes in war, a good public relation campaign is just as effective as superior weaponry. Assuming the story isn't an outright lie, Jessica Lynch should keep quiet and let the Army PR office embellish a little.
Maybe the fact that it's "not bothering her anymore," is the realization that despite her reluctance to be used, bravery and the character of the U.S. soldier was on display during her rescue.
Bullshit.
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