It was the mass media that ran with this angle.
Look at the situation again:
Initial Report: The military said they believed she attempted to resist capture. The media follows up with various questions about the details of her capture. The Army spokesman said they don't know the details, but that all Army personnel are trained to fight the enemy (duh!).
Five minutes after that, the media splash screen is "SAVING PRIVATE LYNCH" and equally-overdramatic graphics.
Two days later, the Army briefs the press that her injuries may have been sustained during the vehicle accident.
Go back and review the military briefings. You will find that the Army tried to provide accurate information throughout. The hype that came from the story became a life of its own, period.
Further, I am not really sure what you want? Did you want the army to come out and say, "Our soldiers are cowards; Pvt. Lynch couldn't even get a shot off because the weapons we use jammed?"
Is Jessica Lynch a coward? I don't think so.
Did she get a shot off? Apparently not.
Did her weapon jam? According to her, but we didn't find out about that until 9 months later.
So, I am not really sure how you wanted this to go down, but that's the way it went down.
So when you say that "let it stand" just because it was "good PR" is really not intellectually honest.
It was/is good PR that she was rescued. She was rescued by brave men of the Special Forces and Marines. She tried to fight, but her weapon jammed.
All of that's true. All of that's good PR. All of which the Army should let stand.
Was she Rambo? No, but the Army never portrayed her as such. The only people that let the "Rambo" image stand was the mass media, because that image was getting veiwership.
The military liked this story. They let it stand.