Private Lynch goes public

Herald Sun ^ | 11/12/03 | Ana Cock

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

THE Pentagon's shy poster girl for Operation Iraqi Freedom, former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch is now trawling for publicity.

What is at stake now is not a nation's morale, boosted by dramatised and exaggerated accounts of her April rescue, but her share in a $1.4 million book deal that looks set to overshadow Veterans' Day.

Ms Lynch began the publicity trail with a Sunday night telemovie, Saving Jessica Lynch.

Yesterday she and fellow PoW Shoshana Johnson were at Glamour magazine's awards night where they were named Women of the Year.

The 20-year-old has also recorded an interview with Diane Sawyer.

Other TV spots include Today, Larry King Live and The Late Show with David Letterman, and she is on the cover of Time.

The publicity frenzy peaked when one magazine was rumoured to have topless photos of Ms Lynch before she went to the war.

The media blitz is all about the release of her book, I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story, written by Rick Bragg, a former New York Times writer.

But while Ms Lynch became a national celebrity, other war veterans are crying foul.

Ms Johnson, who was shot during her capture. now gets a disability pension that is just of fraction of that being paid to Ms Lynch.

Veterans' families question why Ms Lynch has won all the attention while soldiers such as Pat Miller, who killed eight Iraqis in the ambush, have faded into the background.

And Donald Walters' parents had to lodge a Freedom of Information request to find out exactly how their son died in the attack.

But Ms Lynch, whose injuries in the ambush were so horrific she cannot walk unaided, lays no claim to being a hero.

She says the real heroes are the troops who freed her.

[Spok]

The more interesting book would be the next 10 years of Jessica Lynch's life.

[Paul L. Hepperla]

I am really tired of Jessica Lynch. Sorry but there are folks still fighting over there while she's here trying to "clear things up." The newscycle on this has hit the limit.

[HairOfTheDog]

Oooh spin us round again.

This wins the award for the most abbreviated summary of all the crap in one article.

[rs79bm]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1018957/posts

[GrandEagle]

Hey, if she can make money out of this deal, then good for her. Probably just because she is the "cute blonde" who got captured - not fair to the rest of the troups? Of course not, but if she is telling the truth and gives credit where credit is due, then more power to her. That's just the way it goes. Life isn't fair.

[detch]

The US Army with its upside down priorities is to blame -- political correctness regarding women in the service (Army folded to Clinton team while USMC did not), maximizing exposure for victims like Lynch at the expense of heroes who fought the enemy, and then even being totally unfair to other Army victims because they don't have the media attention that Lynch does. Result -- black eye (again) for the US Army.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

How do you veterans feel?

[varina davis]

I agree. A lot of sour grapes being spilled these days. She didn't set out to be a celebrity, she was simply deployed to a war zone.

[PISANO]

I HONOR the (WWII) vets who if they appear on TV do so almost always as part of a documentary. All of my relatives who served in WWII spoke infrequently about their experiences and only when begged to relate. I and my fellow Vietnam Vets (that I know) seldom speak of our experiences. Silence is golden. It seems modern day warriors now want their 15 minutes, I don't understand it, but of course, it is their right.

[GrandEagle]

I don't understand it, but of course, it is their right.
I agree with you also. But, let me propose a question; If the "media" came to you and wanted to pay you X million to do a movie/book about you, would you say no?
Many a vet has used his/her service to get into politics. I see nothing wrong with it as long as they are honest about their experances and their "fame" is not at the expense of a brother/sister in arms.

[PISANO]

You may NOT believe me BUT I wouldn't accept any AMOUNT of money for an interview, book deal, movie, etc ......you name it. By the way I feel the same way about personal tragedies i.e. Elisabeth Smart. I have a 'thing' about HONOR and to me profiting from WAR or my child's kidnapping or murder is NOT 'HONORABLE'. I don't begrudge those that do but as I said I just don't understand it.

[Sir Charles]

Not a combat vet, but if I were, I wonder if I, too, would be reluctant to talk about it, and, if so, why? It seems to me there is a middle ground between "Silence is golden" and warriors wanting their 15 minutes.

The result is we are left with the Audie Murphy and John Wayne, real and fictional heroes, depiction on film and whatever else the media and Hollywood want to give us.

My brother saw WWII combat against the Japanese in jungle warfare, and would only relate some of his experiences when drunk.

[GrandEagle]

You may NOT believe me
I absolutely do believe you. I do know a bit about Honor also. There are things that I wouldn't sell either. I wasn't trying to "pick a fight" so to speak. I am just trying to look at it from a different viewpoint.
I have a very good friend who stayed in after I got out of the USAF (I spent just under 10 years in). He ended up getting shot up in Desert Storm. After 17 some odd years in they gave him a medical discharge. He is unable to work because of his injuries and barely able to scrape by on what he gets for disability.
I would completely understand if someone wanted to pay him for his "story" and he took it.
BTW - I am also a bit tired of hearing about MS Lynch.

[PISANO]

It may be a generation thing. I am 60 years old, too old to be a boomer and just a toddler during WWII. I don't suffer from the maladies of the boomer generation (ie stress, need to find self, you know in general ME, ME, ME) and relate much more so to the previous generation. The things that I cherish the most are NOT THINGS. You are right there is a happy medium. I found mine and hope that Pvt. Lynch has found hers.

[PISANO]

I never assumed you were trying to pick a fight. Often when I state the things I have stated in this thread to NON FREEPERS/FAMILY/FRIENDS, they look at me as if I were from another planet, so that is why I prefaced my answer to you the way I did.

[beaversmom]

My mom said the same thing about her late brother who served in the British Navy during WWII. He said he saw things that he wished he would have never seen. He didn't go blabbing about his experiences except maybe to his wife.