Lynch Shot Iraqi Soldiers

The Washington Post ^ | April 3, 2003 | Susan Schmidt and Vernon Loeb

[John H K]

Pfc. Jessica Lynch, rescued Tuesday from an Iraqi hospital, fought fiercely and shot several enemy soldiers after Iraqi forces ambushed the Army's 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition, U.S. officials said yesterday.

[jmc813]

It seems to me PFC Lynch was in a proper role as a supply clerk. If she did fight in the manner suggested, I applaud her courage and grit. I just hope no one takes her circumstances and tries to make them into a broader rationale for dropping the restriction on women in front-line combat roles.

Agree 100%. As I've mentioned here on FR a few times, I served in an Army MI unit with a female 1st Sgt. She was one of the best leaders I ever dealt with during my time in.

Yes, putting women in infantry positions on the front lines is ludicris, but keeping women out of the military altogether (which I have seen more than a few FReepers advocate) is equally ludicris.

[Ramius]

What I want to know is: WHY DID SHE RUN OUT OF AMMO!!

What kind of idiot are you? A normal everyday ignore-them-and-they'll-go-away idiot... or the kind that it truly dangerous-to-let-them-work-heavy-machinery sort?

This sort of armchair warrior crap really ticks me off. Get another beer and pop some more popcorn. It'll be good for you.

[Ford Fairlane]

Army girls with guns RULE

Marine chicks are a lot more fun though - I speak from experience

[JustPiper]

Exactly, my point, how must Jessica have felt seeing that all around her? But it obviously didn't defeat her.

[Gamecock]

Folks who have been in the military, and watched their friends die, have a higher bar. I believe that is what she just did.

What she has done is good, but to put her on a pedestal and call her a hero while ignoring her fellows who are now dead is inappropriate. OK, if you are alive and have ever been decorated for bravery, return your awards. From now on we only honor the dead. (BTW, I am sure those dead soldiers will be honored.)

Be glad for her, celebrate her survival, and honor her accomplishments, but have some respect for the true heros. So, by your standards, because she is a survivor she is not a hero?

[Godfollow]

Dayam... wouldn't you like to see her in a boxing ring with the Dixi Chick big mouth?

[Maeve]

I have been praying for Shoshonnah by name several times a day. Do we have a thread on FR, a sort of prayer thread for the MIAs and the POWs like Shoshonah?

[FirstTomato]

I am absolutely against women anywhere near combat.

This woman had no business in Iraq, this is all just another horrible part of the legacy of Bill Clinton.

I have no doubt this woman was raped repeatedly, tortured and they were keeping her alive for their further pleasure. The fact that they didn't even put her on TV with the others showed that they had some very sinister motives.

So, good, I'm glad she fought back. But she's no heroine to me. She's a little girl that shouldn't have been there.

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

She just became an American legend.

I certainly wouldn't go THAT far, but a Silver Star is certainly in order if these events took place as described.

[JustPiper]

You think we don't know that?

I did not even infer that we do not know that, it is just a valid point was made sbout Shoshauna, myself included she was not mentioned on this thread until that post.

[patriciaruth]

In addition to Shoshana Johnson POW there is also Lori Piestewa who is MIA.

Patrick Miller, Joseph Hudson, Edgar Hernandez, James Riley are POW with Shoshana, and two POW's, David Williams and Ronald Young, were captured after their Apache helocopter went down.

There are about 15-17 MIA's.

[norcalvet]

I appreciate your enthusiasm. No harm no foul. Just be aware that those who have known personally the ugliness of war have difficulty getting excited about the one who survived because they are still thinking about their friends who will never come home.

Sadly, I fear that her brothers and sisters did not have the same good fortune that she did.

From the article:
"[Lynch] watched several other soldiers in her unit die around her in fighting"

After that, 7 are MIA and 5 were taken as POW's. When Lynch was rescued, they recovered ELEVEN bodies (which they are still identifying, but were clearly American soldiers).

Please honor and remember ALL of them - in one is a hero, they all are.

[JustPiper]

I was under the impression that there were at least two women POW's.

I thought there was another female gone missing in Jessica's maintenance squad.

[briant]

Well, REMF=Rear Echalon MFer (in the rear with the gear)if you didn't know and that strange word = secretarial. I knew I should not have messed with this thread.

[Ramius]

Women have NO place on the battlefield frontlines.

She wasn't IN the front lines. Maybe you didn't know that. Some of us here are keeping up on the news. Please do try to keep up.

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

Bronze Star, at least.

No way. In Desert Storm, there were entire BRIGADES that awarded EVERY officer a Silver Star, just for being there. She'll get a Silver Star I'm betting. I'm just damn happy she's back, and I'll be even HAPPIER when we get the rest of our POWs back.

[montag813]

Having just watched "Courage Under Fire" the other night my first feeling is pride, but also curiosity as to what the real facts here were. There are many varied accounts. The only main accounts we have are hers and that of an Iraqi "Pharmacist" who "cared for her", at Hussein Hospital. If she is indeed up for a medal, it is likely the army will want to skip the details, as they did in the film I mentioned.

[montag813]

Having just watched "Courage Under Fire" the other night my first feeling is pride, but also curiosity as to what the real facts here were. There are many varied accounts. The only main accounts we have are hers and that of an Iraqi "Pharmacist" who "cared for her", at Hussein Hospital. If she is indeed up for a medal, it is likely the army will want to skip the details, as they did in the film I mentioned.