She forgot she had a gun in her hand? I never read this story before.
Her gun wouldn’t fire and the sergeant was trying to clear her weapon from his passenger’s seat, when I read the details it sounded like he had his hands full, a panicking female driver, Private Lynch screaming in his ears and him having to deal with the enemy and the situation all at once, and then suddenly they were all five dead, except for Lynch.
Here is the guy who’s battle field struggles got totally swallowed up and absorbed by the Xena warrior myth of Private Lynch.
A National Guard spokesman stated that an Iraqi ambulance driver witnessed Walters [with Jessica Lynchs 507th main, co.], still alive, guarded by six Fedayeen, in front of a building. Walters was led inside the building, and several hours later, the same witness delivered his dead body to a hospital. DNA samples recovered from blood in the building match that of Walters, and splatter vectors suggest that he died from two gunshot wounds to the back, from more than twenty feet away.
During initial reports after the Lynch rescue, it had been stated that a blonde soldier, presumably Lynch, had fought until she ran out of ammunition, although she later refuted this; although there has been no official investigation into this matter, it has been widely speculated that this soldier was Walters, who is also blond. Donalds mother, Arlene Walters, appeared on the CBS Early Show, making this claim, on May 28.
Army reports from 2003 state that Walters died in the fighting during an ambush that left ten others dead; with no American witnesses to his death. It has now been suggested that Walters was separated from his unit; several gun magazines were found near the location of Walters capture, suggesting that he may have, indeed, fought until he ran out of ammunition. Before capture, Walters was shot in the leg, and stabbed twice with a knife in the abdomen, had a dislocated left shoulder, shot twice in the back.
Sgt. Walters was interred with military honors at the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on April 12, 2003. More than 150 of Sgt. Walters relatives, friends and Army comrades attended his funeral. At the funeral, his widow, Stacie, was presented with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart awarded to her husband.
Sgt. Walters posthumously awarded Bronze Star was upgraded to the Silver Star for gallantry with marked distinction in March 2004. The ceremony was held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas with Brigadier General Howard Bromberg, director of the Enlisted Personnel Management Directorate, U.S. Army Human Resources Command presenting the decoration to Mrs. Walters. In his remarks, General Bromberg suggested that Sgt. Walters is believed to have provided covering fire for his comrades, allowing many of them the opportunity to escape at the cost of his own life. Sgt. Walters also received the Prisoner of War Medal in May of the same year. There is currently a war crimes investigation on his behalf.