'She Was Fighting to the Death'

Washington Post ^ | 4/3/2003 | Susan Schmidt and Vernon LoebSusan Schmidt and Vernon LoebSusan Schmidt and Vernon Loeb

[saquin]

washingtonpost.com

'She Was Fighting to the Death'
Details Emerging of W. Va. Soldier's Capture and Rescue

By Susan Schmidt and Vernon Loeb
Washington Post Staff Writers

Thursday, April 3, 2003; Page A01

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.

Lynch, a 19-year-old supply clerk, continued firing at the Iraqis even after she sustained multiple gunshot wounds and watched several other soldiers in her unit die around her in fighting March 23, one official said. The ambush took place after a 507th convoy, supporting the advancing 3rd Infantry Division, took a wrong turn near the southern city of Nasiriyah.

"She was fighting to the death," the official said. "She did not want to be taken alive."

[saquin]

Oops, don't know why the author's names showed up 3 times in my post headline.

[eternity]

Hat's off to this soldier. But what about the POWS left behind after the first Desert Storm?

[Slyfox]

Compare and contrast this with that bozo who is trying to wheedle his way out of his military commitment by claiming he is a gay contientious objector.

[davisfh]

" firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition,"

We need to make certain that people like Jessica never run out of ammunition in the future.

[whadizit]

I am sure the military just as soon he not be there!

[nhoward14]

I am not shocked, but I am awed.

She has more guts in one cell than 200 "consciencious objectors" have in their collective bodies.

Is she now a candidate for a Purple Heart?

[Texasforever]

But what about the POWS left behind after the first Desert Storm?

Which ones were left behind?

[Arkinsaw]

Is she now a candidate for a Purple Heart?

It sounds like she is in line for more than that. It sounds as if she continued to fight until out of ammunition while the unit was being overrun.

[Spirited]

Is this the changed title of the same article already posted elsewhere on the board with over 200 replies?

[Abn1508]

Two things about this. First of all (if confirmed, and it probably will be)
don't mess with girls from West Virginia. They will stone kick your a**.

The second is sort of interesting in a "universal" way. The surrender of the
personnel of the 507th is the largest surrender of American personnel since
Korea. In Vietnam we had no _units_ surrender. In fact, even in the case of
the 507th, the _unit_ was not ordered to surrender, several _individuals_
surrendered. But at no time were they ordered to do so.

This is...very modern American. American forces rarely face the sort of
enemy that they consider it a "good idea" to surrender to. Given the various
fates that get meted out by the Afghans, the VC, the skinnies and now the
fedayeen, American troops would rather die than surrender.

Even the French surrendered at Dien Bin Phu. American forces _refuse_ to,
and have since WWII in the Pacific and, more so, Korea and Vietnam. The
Vietnamese had fought the Japanese and the French for years, but they
considered American troops to be "suicidally brave." In situations where
they _should_ have given up, they refused and kept fighting, sometimes
succeeding in situations where it seemed hopeless (Na Trang Valley, Ke
Sahn.) What this means, coupled with way that we fight wars, is that
American troops are some of the _hardest fighting_ forces in the world,
maybe _the_ hardest fighting forces in the world. Quite often war comes down
to the last side to give up. And we just d**ned well refuse. You've got to
put our face in the ground.

Whatever. From all indications, this stony b**ch (and that's a _compliment_ people) acted in the best
traditions of the American fighting man.

Medal time. Not CMH, I hope to God, but Silver Star or DSC.

Oh, third thing. Carry more ammo next time, Jessica.

--

www.johnringo.com
http://www.baen.com/author_catalog.asp?author=jringo

I'm beginning to think the Posleen aren't all bad. They might eat you, but
at least they're not postmodernists.
Phil Fraering

[ALS]

My mom was a West Virginian and lawdee knows you didn't wanna piss her off!

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

She'll get her Purple Heart, but I'm thinking she should get something for valor, too. What a great story!

[Route66]

Yes - Based on what's reported here - she could be awarded more than a purple heart.

[saquin]

Is this the changed title of the same article already posted elsewhere on the board with over 200 replies?

I don't know. I didn't see the other one. This is the title as it appears on the Washington Post page. I searched before I posted and didn't see it.

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

Makes me think that we should form an entire division of female combat troops. Might be like unleashing an enormous herd of she grizzlies.

[nhoward14]

Well... I was asking because I keep forgetting which medals are for what. I just know a lot of vets who were wounded in other wars have Purple Hearts and I wasn't sure if that was the only criteria for getting one.

[oyez]

The officer said that Special Operations forces found what looked like a "prototype" Iraqi torture chamber in the hospital's basement, with batteries and metal prods

This looks like a common pattern through out the whole country. Every hospital and every jail has a torture chamber. .

[griffin]

Ugh. She did her job. She did exactly what she should have done.

Some call this a hero. I call it doing your duty. When attacked you FIGHT with everything you have. No more, no less.

That being said...it appears you did GREAT Jessica!! :)

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

I think you have to sustain a wound in combat to receive a Purple Heart. She sustained multiple wounds--via bullet and knife and probably bludgeoning--but kept martyring uncivilized rug merchants until she ran out of ammo. It would have been all too easy to cower on the floor of her vehicle, but she fought and fought well.