Posted on 09/02/2003 2:33:38 AM PDT by jaykay
Jessica Lynch Biography Hits Racks In November
'I Am a Soldier, Too' To Be Written by Bragg
By Linton Weeks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 2, 2003; Page C01
"I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story" will go on sale in November at bookstores, discount warehouses, truck stops, gift shops, grocery stores, pharmacies, PXs and just about everywhere else across America.
The authorized biography will be written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Bragg and published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House. Sonny Mehta, Knopf's president, will make the official announcement today.
"Jessica Lynch has captured the hearts and minds of Americans," Mehta said in a press release obtained yesterday by The Washington Post. "Her story is one the world is eager to hear, and Rick Bragg, an established chronicler of American lives, is uniquely qualified to tell it. Through Jessica Lynch, people will gain a greater understanding of American life and lives when a nation is at war."
Through Knopf, Lynch said, "I have been heartened by the hope and faith of the American people, and by the tireless effort of the U.S. Armed Forces. Many folks have written, expressing their support for me and for the thousands of other soldiers who serve their country. I feel I owe them all this story, which will be about more than a girl going off to war and fighting alongside her fellow soldiers. It will be a story about growing up in America, and I will tell it with the help of Rick Bragg, a writer my family and I have come to admire."
Lynch, the sweet-faced private first class from Palestine, W.Va., was taken prisoner by Iraqi soldiers on March 23 when her maintenance company was attacked near the city of Nasiriyah. She was heroically rescued nine days later from her hospital bed by a covert Special Operations unit. She spent several months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center recovering from injuries, then was moved to her home in Palestine. After receiving her honorable discharge from the Army last week, Lynch signed the book deal.
There are concerns surrounding the book . . .
. . . about Lynch's memory. Even before Lynch has had a chance to speak publicly, her story has been told, retold and mistold by intelligence sources, informants and countless news organizations, including The Washington Post. In early scenarios, she was a tenacious fighter, receiving stab and bullet wounds while killing several Iraqis. In subsequent reports, she tried to shoot an enemy but her gun jammed. She was not wounded by bullets or knives but apparently when the Humvee in which she was riding collided with another vehicle. She did not kill any of her assailants.
Her story is one of mystery and misinformation. There has been concern that she doesn't even remember what happened. "The doctors are reasonably sure," an Army spokesman told this newspaper in May, "that she does not know what happened to her."
Paul Bogaards, a senior vice president and executive director of publicity at Knopf, visited Lynch and her family last week. He says, "Her memory is intact and her recall of events -- during the ambush and after -- informs the narrative. That's important. This is the book that will finally give us a first-person account of what happened."
He adds, "The book will address and answer any lingering questions about her injuries."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
This should be interesting reading. Unfortunately, Wash Post articles must be excerpted. There is much more to this article, including info on the co-author, the advance, some quotes from Lynch, etc..
Over/under on first "she didn't deserve the BSM" comment: Post # 10
So, her "amnesia" was assigned to her by the Army, and now that she is a civilian, her memory is restored. Not a surprise. Remember how Pfc. Patrick Miller couldn't remember that he was ordered to forget "certain details" and had to be shut up by his fellow former POWs in their Dateline interview.
Hey JK, I'll take the under.
Not to mention my other buddy who was captured by the VC/NVA and escaped after 42 days.
Sounds like Hillary's memoirs.
Fact of life: Cute little teenage beauties get more attention than big smelly grunts. It's hard wired. Fuzzy bunnies get more love than armadillos. Deal with it.
She will also have been briefed about any information they consider to be classified up to the level for which she was cleared. My guess is that she was cleared for Secret and was exposed to the methods, tactics, names, etc. of Delta, Seals, CIA, and TF 160. All of these will be Top Secret + and she will only be able to refer to them in a general way.
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