Rescued U.S. soldier put up fierce fight - Wash Post

Reuters | 4/03/03

[kattracks]

Rescued U.S. soldier put up fierce fight - Wash Post

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - Rescued U.S. soldier Jessica Lynch shot several Iraqi soldiers prior to her capture, firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition, The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing U.S. officials.

The 19-year-old Private First Class continued firing at the Iraqis even after she sustained multiple gunshot wounds and watched several other soldiers in her unit die around her, one official told the newspaper.

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

Lynch arrived in Germany early on Thursday for treatment at an American military hospital. She was held as a prisoner of war by Iraq for more than a week until U.S. special forces freed her on Tuesday.

Lynch, who has two broken legs and one broken arm, was with a U.S. Army maintenance convoy ambushed by Iraqi forces on March 23 in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya.

One official said Lynch was stabbed when Iraqi forces closed in on her position, the newspaper said.

U.S. defense officials said they were aware of the report, but could not immediately confirm the details of Lynch's capture.

Officials told the newspaper that the precise sequence of events was still being determined and further information would emerge as Lynch is debriefed.

The report said the information about Lynch's ordeal was based on battlefield intelligence which officials said came from monitored communications and from Iraqi sources in whose reliability has yet to be assessed.

Lynch, from Palestine, West Virginia, arrived at the U.S. Ramstein air base in southwestern Germany early on Thursday aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane.

The special forces also recovered the bodies of two U.S. soldiers in the raid at the Saddam Hospital north of the Euphrates river which runs through Nassiriya.

Lynch was one of 15 soldiers listed missing, captured or killed when a 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company convoy made a wrong turn and came under attack from Iraqi tanks and fighters.

Five of the captives, but not Lynch, were shown on Iraqi television as well as the bloodied bodies of up to eight men, prompting President George W. Bush to warn that anybody mistreating U.S. prisoners would be punished as "war criminals.

04/03/03 05:57 ET

[Chancellor Palpatine]

.

[Poohbah]

Don't mess with hillbilly girls, they can be ORNERY.

And it's amazing how the keyboard commandos are the first to start trashing her.

[let us cross over the river]

I watched several interviews that her family gave, and after seeing her dad, then her brother, and her friends at different times speak of her, I can believe every word of this article. Her dad said she was a country girl who grew up in the hills and he knew all along she could take care of herself. She may be battered, but I think she will be ok.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

owo2 signed up 2001-11-24.
This account has been banned.

[Poohbah]

Wow, a Hush-a-ZOT!

[wimpycat]

I'll tell you one thing, some FReepers have no tact and absolutely no sense of timing. It doesn't matter how good the news, or how heroic the deed, but somebody just has to pee in the pool.

[metesky]

Must have pained him mightily, waiting all that time to get his ZOT.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

It doesn't matter how good the news, or how heroic the deed, but somebody just has to pee in the pool.

If that is their particular predilection then perhaps they shpould go back to, or pop on over to DU and swim in that toilet.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

shpould=should

Fat fingers.

[Aquinasfan]

Does it occur to your bimbo brain that we don't want to inadvertantly give away operational details of our SpecOps team?

I don't think much occurs to someone with a screen name of "Bimbo.'

[William Terrell]

Excuse me for trying to be rational here, but what does that mean, specifically? Out of all the media available, the Post is among the most socialist. You know the socialist media are rabid for women in combat; it's a major point in the socialist cause.

Why do you buy the story from this cryptic statement? What were the monitored communications and exactly what did they say? What does it mean "Iraqi sources in whose reliability has yet to be assessed"?

This lady should be honored for her support service, in spite of her being placed much too close to the front lines. But this kind of bloviation? From this source, with all the potential benefits for so many feminist causes?

I'll be willing to compliment her on her resolve and courage under pressure, but to go any further I'll need to see these communications first. I'll sure as hell not take the raw word of the Washington Post.

[resistance]

It is better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

[resistance]

It is better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

[resistance]

Oops!

[metesky]

General Franks is forwarding the information to you now. Check your Freepmail for a message from "Tommy".

[FITZ]

.........she is going to be made a "media" hero.......and exploited for all it is worth.......

So? Even if she is? She's been through hell and back ---far better a person than other "media heros".

[BluH2o]

This young women grew up in rural West Virginia, she has an older sibling, a brother. This girl is a tough little cookie according to her dad ... said her brother always gave her a hard time, which probably led to her feisty nature. Another fact, West Virginia, on a per capita basis had the highest casualty rate of any state in the Union during Vietnam. These people grow up hunting, fishing and telling stories of their military prowess.

[Glenn]

This account has been banned.

It bears repeating.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

It does not matter whether or not there are facts. Three weeks of media treatment and she will be pope.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Three weeks of media treatment and she will be pope.

If I've told you once, I've told you a million times...don't exaggerate.