Posted on 11/06/2003 7:29:27 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Army private Jessica Lynch, the badly injured U.S. prisoner of war who was rescued from a hospital during the Iraq war, said in her first interview that she is not the Rambo-style hero she has been portrayed as by American media and the military. Lynch, 20, told ABC network reporter Diane Sawyer in an interview to be aired on "Primetime" next Tuesday, the same day as her authorized biography is published, that she never fired a shot when ambushed. "My weapon did jam and I did not shoot, not a round, nothing. I don't look at myself as a hero. My heroes are Lori (Private Lori Piestewa, who died in the ambush of Lynch's convoy), the soldiers that are over there, the soldiers that were in the car beside me, the ones that came and rescued me," she said. Lynch is still recovering from injuries to her spine, and cannot walk without crutches. She has no feeling in her left foot and has other medical problems. Lynch, who became a symbol of U.S. heroism during the early stages of the war on Iraq, insisted, "I am just a survivor." In an advance, partial copy of the ABC interview, Lynch said she was hurt that other people had "made up stories" about her fiercely fighting her Iraqi captors. "I'm not about to take credit for something that I didn't do... It hurt in a way that people would make up stories that they had no truth about. Only I would have been able to know that because the other four people on my vehicle aren't here to tell that story." 'PRAYING ON MY KNEES' Lynch, a supply clerk who was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War medal, received an honorable military discharge from the Army in August due to her injuries, allowing her to sign the $1 million book deal. U.S. commandos filmed their rescue of Lynch from the Iraqi hospital on April 1, nine days after she was captured at the onset of the war. An early media report quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying she "fought to the death" before being captured and suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The Army later concluded she was hurt when her Humvee crashed into another vehicle in the convoy after being hit by a grenade. Sawyer asked Lynch if she went down "like, somebody said, Rambo?" "No, I went down praying on my knees," she replied. Lynch said she was thankful to the soldiers who rescued her but said she was troubled by the way the incident was portrayed by the military. "It does (bother me) that they used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff ... yeah, it's wrong ... I don't know why they filmed it, or why they say the things they, you know." The full details of her story have yet to come out since Lynch said she suffered a loss of memory after her capture. ABC said that in the interview she discussed for the first time a report she was sexually assaulted during her captivity, saying that she did not remember such an incident but adding, "even just the thinking about that, that's too painful." According to Sawyer, the book "I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story," cites a medical record as indicating that Lynch was raped. The young private was captured by Iraqis on March 23 near Nassiriya. Eleven other U.S. soldiers were killed and nine wounded in the incident.
IMO, when the Washington Post quotes an “unnamed Pentagon source” it means they made it up themselves. The “Pentagon Source” would have no reason to remain unnamed.
To a reporter "US Officials" could be a shopper at the Commissary or a contract chow hall worker.
Good question … I believe the Bronze Star is awarded “for heroism.”
The Air Force gave a Bronze Star to an E-3 in Ohio who worked in a planning office about the same time PFC Lynch got hers. Of course hardly anyone was upset about that Bronze Star.
I'm sure they'll hype some stories to push whatever agenda they have, but I don't see how they can hype this one when everyone knows what happened. They'll hype the stuff people don't know about, that way they can get away with it. This is probably the only time the 507th will see action in it's history, so I'm not expecting females to be removed from the military or from support units. It's probably more dangerous to work in the Pentagon than to work in the 507th or their equivilants these days.
So they stop every 2 hours and clean their weapons, in so doing they don't make it to the last Patriot battery of the day and a missile strike wipes out 50 soldiers. So was stopping every two hours worth it for a unit that will probably never see action again? These soldiers are doing a job and every action has a cost. It's up to the military to weigh those costs and prioritize.
Sure you don't. You just read a thread about a brutal capture and your only thought is some obscure escort that took place months ago.
What better target for our enemies then to kill her upon her return.
Yes, the Army has been giving them out to people who didn't even see the enemy since Vietnam.
They've been giving them out for less for 40 years, why've you never complained before?
True. These are terrorists. Terrorists play to the media, not to military advantage. They would have an interest in attacking a symbol. The twin towers were symbols.
Why? It's getting bumped to the top every couple of minutes. lol
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.