Iraq TV Shot Tape of POWs Lynch, Piestewa

Associated Press ^ | 12/30/03

[saquin]

NEW YORK - Graphic video footage of a badly injured Jessica Lynch and Lori Piestewa, who may have died shortly afterward, was taken by Iraqi state television following the ambush of the soldiers' Army convoy, NBC reported Tuesday night.

The video, aired on "NBC Nightly News," shows the two Army privates at the hospital where they were taken following the March 23 ambush of the 507th Maintenance Co.

The tape was never aired in Iraq, NBC reported.

Piestewa, her face swollen and bruised and her head loosely bandaged, is shown as someone positions her feet, and then her head, for the camera shot. Her lip is shown curling back in an apparent grimace.

Lynch, 20, of Palestine, W.Va., is also shown bandaged, her lip cut.

Neither appears awake or alert.

"I haven't watched it," Piestewa's mother, Percy Piestewa, said when contacted by The Associated Press. "I don't want to talk to any reporters right now."

Telephone messages left with two spokespeople for Lynch's family were not immediately returned.

Iraqi doctors have previously said the women were brought to a private clinic following the ambush, and that Piestewa, a 23-year-old mother of two from Tuba City, Ariz., died half an hour later of severe head injuries.

Lynch and four other soldiers were rescued by U.S. special forces April 1, but 11 of their colleagues died during and after the ambush in Nasiriyeh.

Piestewa was the first U.S. female service member to die in the war.

The identities of Lynch and Piestewa were verified for NBC by Spec. Shoshana Johnson, one of the rescued soldiers.

"It was a little shocking to see Lori, but it also gave me a little peace to know that they tried, they did their best for her," Johnson, 30, of El Paso, Texas, told the network. "I mean, it was obvious they tried to bandage her up and give her medical care."

NBC told the Army it had obtained the tape before airing it so the families of the soldiers could be told first, according to MSNBC.com.

Defense Department spokesman Jim Turner said Tuesday night officials were aware of the Iraqi video, but had not seen it and did not have details about what it contained.

The United States repeatedly bombed Iraqi TV studios after they aired interviews with American prisoners of war. But this tape survived because an employee at the state network kept it at home, NBC reported.

[mystery-ak]

Was this on the nightly news?

[saquin]

I didn't see the Nightly News but apparently it was. I'm watching the MSNBC News with Brian Williams (though he's not on tonight) now to see if I can catch it.

[Almondjoy]

I don't normally get in on the freeps but I feel that I need to get involved in this one. If there is any concentrated effort to contact anyone at NBC about this would you mind pinging me?

[TheSpottedOwl]

In the last image of Jessica Lynch and Lori Piestewa, it looked like the "doctor" pulled Lori Piestewa by her hair! What horrible images...

[TYVets]

The people who were positioning them on the tape did not treat them with TLC.

No wonder why it was not shown!

[liberallyconservative]

I just watched the tape through this link and it is horrifying. To see the "doctor" grab Lori Piestewa by the hair to position her head, and to see the distress on her face...

My blood is boiling at this point.

[armymarinemom]

I do hope that Lori was not aware even though her facial movements appear that she was exhibiting pain. Comatose patient can grimace but not remember later if they awaken. I do hope with all my heart that she wasn't aware of how much her body was suffering.

I have never in my life seen a trauma patient treated with such disrespect. When I think of the care that I have given to trauma patient working as an OR nurse and an EMT the thing that sticks out the most about this film is the rough treatment of the cervical spine and her head. I have held manual cervical traction on patients with multiple skull fractures and it is much like trying to hold together a cracked egg. You have to maintain a head position very carefully in order not to cause further injury. This makes me want to puke.

[neverdem]

Yes, good points. But, at least what was on the tape showed they weren't torturing the ladies (at that point, of course...) I suspect the level of medical knowledge for the average Iraqi grunt was probably not quite what our guys in the field have.

I prefer your attitude. We embraced this mess by needing all these female soldiers because we don't have enough males who qualify.

[liberallyconservative]

See post #14. It makes you wonder if this reprehensible mistreatment may have greatly contributed to her death.

[saquin]

Yeah, I don't understand the spin of the MSNBC story that the Iraqis "took good care" of them. Pulling the head of a dying woman by the hair (to the point of making her grimace in pain) to position her better for the propaganda cameras is not "good care" in my book.

[liberallyconservative]

I just hope and pray that her family never sees this.

The spin on this story was unbelievable. First you have Shoshana Johnson saying it gave her a sense of relief that at least they were doing their best to treat her. Then the reporter, at the end of the tape, saying that it was not aired by Iraqi television because it didn't present her captors in a very good light. And then ultimately it IS aired here.

Not to disrespect Shoshana Johnson, but her take on this clip is the exact opposite of what most of us take away from viewing it.

[Lael]

BTTT!!

[FreedomCalls]

Try this link:

http://g.msn.com/0VD0/00/00?m=nn_engel_iraq_031230&csid=Msnbc

[armymarinemom]

See post #14. It makes you wonder if this reprehensible mistreatment may have greatly contributed to her death

I agree. The cervical spine injury is not the only problem. If a person has an occipital skull fracture any movement of the head can kill them instantly. Pulling their hair and driving their head into a pillow with a little bit of a shake as was shown with the obvious injuries that she had is much akin to violently shaking a baby.Those grimaces showed a deep pain response.

[cars for sale]

now look in your hearts freepers and take account if you dissed POW LYnch as she did not receive the so called Iraqi doctor....all you who know it all ...what say you now

[sarasmom]

Have you lost your mind?
Did you see the tape?
Did you see the expression of agony on Lori Piestewa's face when they jerked her head around?
Did you see Jessica Lynch in obvious shock?
You think this video shows they took care of them?

Have you lost your mind?

[Xphantasos]

I also recall seeing Piestawa's kicking up or bringing up her left knee/leg... it just seemed to me she was in agony and her leg may have been moving involuntarily from severe abdominal pain.

Just an impression, I'm not a doctor.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Thanks for posting the link. I don't generally watch news on tv. That was a despicable piece of videotape, btw. Look how they were yanking Lori Piestewa by her hair...

[VOA]

Have you lost your mind?


"It was a little shocking to see Lori, but it also gave me a little peace to
know that they tried, they did their best for her," Johnson, 30, of El Paso,
Texas, told the network. "I mean, it was obvious they tried to bandage her up and
give her medical care."

I haven't seen the tape.
Once I have, I'll seen if I've gone as crazy along with Spec. Shoshana Johnson.

[sarasmom]

For the love of God, did you even see the tape?
What is wrong with you people?
You still have the unmitigated gall to cast aspersions on women who served their country in what they thought was a support position?