[ex-Texan]

Look like we have a real live hero -- Jessica Lynch !

[bybybill]

Now lets see if we can leave her alone til she wants to talk. Thank God we were able to free her from the Iraqi SOB`s, let`s do the same with the press.

[patriciaruth]

Careful. A group of people are busy trashing Jessica on another thread, and they may come over here.

So, let me say it quick: You done good, Jessica. God bless you!

[DoughtyOne]

Special Edition Victory Series Production

The rescue of POW Private First Class Jessica Lynch has captured the attention of our nation.
This Victory Series submission is dedicated to her.

American POW Leaves Iraq After Rescue
inspiring details of the Private First Class Jessica Lynch story

By DOUG MELLGREN, Associated Press Writer

Excerpted to details about Private First Class Jessica Lynch, future recipient of the Purple Heart and possibly other medals as well.

NASIRIYAH, Iraq - An American flag folded across her chest, Pfc. Jessica Lynch left Iraq on a stretcher Wednesday April 2, 2003, after U.S. commandos, acting on a CIA tip, rescued the prisoner of war.

Lynch, a 19-year-old Army supply clerk, arrived at a U.S. air base in southwestern Germany on a C-17 transport plane late Wednesday for treatment at a U.S. military medical center.

"She's real spirited, she hasn't eaten in eight days and she's hungry," her father, Greg Lynch, said. "She wants some food."

U.S. officials in Kuwait said earlier she had two broken legs, a broken arm and at least one gunshot wound (see below for discrepancy).

Lynch was captured by the Iraqis more than a week ago after her maintenance unit made a wrong turn and was ambushed in Nasiriyah.

Following an intelligence tip about Lynch's whereabouts, U.S. special operations forces made their way behind Iraqi lines and seized Lynch from the Saddam Hospital under cover of darkness late Tuesday, American officials said.

The 507th was attacked March 23 during some of the earliest fighting in Nasiriyah, where Saddam's Fedayeen loyalists and other Iraqi fighters are said to have dressed as civilians and ambushed Americans.

Lynch fought fiercely and shot several enemy soldiers during the ambush. She fired her weapon after she had several gunshot wounds (see above for discrepancy) and kept firing until she ran out of ammunition, The Washington Post reported in Thursday's editions.

She watched several soldiers in her unit die and was stabbed when Iraqi forces closed in on her position, The Post quoted U.S. officials as saying.

An Iraqi pharmacist who works at Saddam Hospital told Britain's Sky television that he treated Lynch for leg injuries but that she was otherwise healthy. But he added, "every day I saw her crying about wanting to go home."

The pharmacist, who gave his name only as Imad, said Lynch knew the U.S. troops were on the other side of the Euphrates River and "she kept wondering if the American Army were coming to save her."

Kudos to Private First Class Jessica Lynch, for her courage under fire.

Home grown, from the heartland of the United States!

[birdsman]

I'll admit, I've opposed using women in the battlefield. I've always felt that women weren't capable of fighting. Jessica Lynch has proven me wrong. She is truly an American hero. Let us remember that the rescue team are all heros also. Jessica Lynch and her rescuers are Americans that we can all be proud of.

[GBTexan]

Dear God In Heaven--!

Sometimes folks should really sit back and listen to how foolish they sound. Is PFC Jessica Lynch a hero? Yes, she damn sure is. Are the Army Rangers & Navy SEALS who went in to get her heroes? Yes, they damn sure are. They're all heroes. Every damn man and woman over there fighting to make us safe.

Should she be there? Should she not be there? It's irrelevant at this point. What is relevant is that she was there, serving her country, prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice while a lot of us who haven't even served in the armed forces are sitting here typing, sitting in comfy chairs. She and everyone else is over there bleeding for us, yet Freepers are going to start fighting about whether or not she should even be there. Well the fact is she held her own pretty damn well when the crap hit the fan. This isn't about being a man or a woman. It's about being a soldier, which is what she did.

So really--lay the Hell off of her already. And whoever says she's not a hero, like I saw in the other thread, needs to walk up to her family and her friends and tell them that. Look her father and mother square in the eyes and tell them that she's not a hero for serving her country. Tell that to her older brother, who's serving in the National Guard right now. See what he has to say about his sister being a hero.

She's a U.S. soldier. They're all heroes. Now get over yourselves.

[strela]

I've been seeing a lot of bugle oil on this thread about what does or does not constitute a "hero." In my opinion, anyone who willingly puts on the uniform in return for below-industry-standard pay, lousy "benefits" that can be decreased or eliminated at a politician's whim, rations that you wouldn't feed to a dog, and the chance of getting shot or worse perfectly fills the definition of "hero" in my book.

And for you armchair tacticians out there who question the heroism of PFC Lynch and/or the specialists who rescued her, might I suggest that you extract your fat kiesters from behind your computer and go enlist if you truly want to walk the talk. Otherwise, just shut up.

[nightdriver]

"She continued to fire her weapon until she ran out of ammunition. "She was fighting to the death," U.S. officials said."

She done good. No doubt about it.

I'm even more impressed with the operation of the special forces of all the services that pulled off the very involved rescue operation without losing a man. That's REAL professionalism in our military!

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

I recommend that the Second Ammendment Sisters grant Jessica Lynch a Life Time membership. Wonder what the MM think about Jessica. Think Sarah Brady is a little upset? Everyone knows how to use a rifle in Palestine, W.Va I bet.

[O Neill]

I suppose heroism is in the eye of the beholder.

Were the original 7 astronauts heroes because they rode ('spam in a can') inside a CAPSULE, over which they had no control whatsoever, into outer space & plunked down into the Atlantic from which they had to be rescued? Von Braun thought it was silly to have to put windows in those capsules, but the astronauts insisted. They also installed some switches inside that didn't do anything.

I dunno...they're many heroes over there right now. But that PFC Jessica Lynch! DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY...Where do we get such women?

May God bless her. She oughta get at least 3 days & 2 nights at Camp David...with a guest of her choice, in addition to the medals!!