Rescued POW Put Up Fierce Fight

CBSNews.com ^ | April 3, 2003 | CBS

[rockinonritalin]

The 19-year-old Army supply clerk rescued in Iraq shot several Iraqi soldiers during the March 23 ambush that resulted in her capture, newspaper reported Thursday. She kept firing even after she had several gunshot wounds, finally running out of ammunition, the newspaper said, citing unidentified U.S. officials.

Spirited but hungry, Pfc. Jessica Lynch arrived in Germany for treatment of two broken legs and bullet wounds reportedly suffered in a fierce gun battle she waged against her Iraqi captors.

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

"Talk about spunk!" said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who was briefed by military officials on the rescue.

Pentagon officials and family members contacted late Wednesday declined comment on the report.

Lynch's daring nighttime rescue used virtually every asset the U.S. had, reports CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan, from a battalion of Marines who drew fire as a decoy to U.S. Special Forces, who ran through a hail of gunfire for a stranger — not once, but twice.

"There were fire fights outside of the building, getting in and getting out," said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks at Central Command in Doha.

The former POW left Iraq on a stretcher with an American flag folded across her chest, and arrived at a U.S. air base in Germany late Wednesday for treatment at the U.S. military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. She was the only patient aboard the 10-hour flight, reports CBS News Correspondent Stephan Kaufman at Landstuhl.

From Germany, she spoke with her family at their home in Palestine, W.Va., in a 15-minute telephone call.

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

Randy Coleman, a military spokesman in West Virginia, said Lynch had fractures in both legs, and her family said she also injured her arm. U.S. officials in Kuwait said earlier she had two broken legs, a broken arm and at least one gunshot wound.

According to the Post account, she was also stabbed when Iraqi forces closed in on her.

Landstuhl spokesman Capt. Norris Jones would not comment on Lynch's injuries other than to say she was in stable condition.

"She's weak, she knows she's injured and they're doing the best that they can to get her so she can travel," said her brother Greg Lynch Jr. Her father said she will be transferred to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington as soon as possible.

However, it may be some time before she is reunited with her family, since soldiers taken prisoner often need time to "decompress" and meet with medical and psychological experts.

The U.S. forces who rescued her also found 11 corpses — some believed to be Americans — in and around Saddam Hospital, and the military was trying to determine whether any of them were captured members of her unit.

Lynch and as many as 12 other members of the 507th Maintenance Company were captured after making a wrong turn in Nasariyah. She watched several soldiers in her unit die in the ambush, the Post reported.

Not long after the fighting, five of Lynch's fellow soldiers showed up in Iraqi television footage being asked questions by their captors. The video also showed bodies, apparently of U.S. soldiers, leading the Pentagon to accuse Iraq of executing some POWs.

Lynch joined the Army after graduating from high school in 2001. Her brother Greg enlisted the same day. Her 18-year-old sister Brandi will report for duty in August.

"I still want to do it even more. It's the Lynch blood," Brandi Lynch said.

To help Lynch reach her goal of becoming a kindergarten teacher, West Virginia and Marshall universities and Liberty College in Lynchburg, Va., offered her competing packages Wednesday.

And West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise said the state would finance Lynch's education at a state public college or university of her choosing.

"She wants to become a teacher, and we are going to see that she becomes one," he said after visiting the Lynch family at home.

[A2J]

the fact that she resisted by firing her weapon at the enemy

How do we know that she fired "her weapon at the enemy?"

[A2J]

How it has been reported is another matter.

And it's a matter worth investigating as to its veracity, especially before we deify her and grant her sainthood.

This is more about how fast we are to embrace a good report, any good report, as a true report when it may not be such at all.

[MineralMan]

"How do we know that she fired "her weapon at the enemy?"

Now you're just being silly. That's what soldiers do when under fire. They fire back. Absent any evidence to the contrary, the assumption is that a US soldier fired at the enemy? Her injuries also indicate that she was fired upon. Are you so callous as to imply that this soldier fired at something else?

[HairOfTheDog]

A member of what group?

I believe that women who wish to should be able to serve according to their ability. I don't hold women out as being as strong as a man, but I think there are some women, and some roles where they can and *do* serve with honor. There is a lot of talk about how this will weaken the military and cost lives, but I am not seeing that happen. I am not seeing a weak force that is losing lives. I am seeing the best fighting force in the world out there, losing a few, but not many more than they may have lost at home in training exercises. They are as a whole, damn good.

The page is already written. There are and will be women serving. Your real choice is not whether they should be there, but whether to respect the few women who choose to fight in the military as just as worthy of the assumption of respect you would give any other soldier. They are all on our side.

[A2J]

and to let us know that you're not going to believe anything you hear about this soldier in the future.

But haven't you and many others done the same?

[cyborg]

The more I hear of how she kicked Iraqi a$$, the more I feel proud to be an American female. I am liking her more and more.

[A2J]

But, you see, I have not formed an opinion. I do not know what happened there, nor whether this soldier exhibited heroism at not. I do not dismiss the possibility.

Neither have I formed an opinion about Ms. Lynch but about the truthfulness of the report of her purported heroism.

Should an investigation warrant a medal of high honor, I will congratulate her. However, to believe a report of such without the facts makes one susceptible to believe anything reported.

[A2J]

Your social agenda is crap, and is now out the window. Completely.

Now if only you would jump out the window. Completely.

[HairOfTheDog]

As if he thinks I am so hapless that if a burglar broke into my house I would start wildy shooting the dog.

Self defense and survival are not male-only instincts... and this gal had both instinct and training behind her.

We know damn well that no one would be assuming a man couldn't even figure out which direction the bullet comes out of the gun. ALS's demand that we be objective rings a bit thin... His assumptions are nowhere near objective.

[MineralMan]

"and to let us know that you're not going to believe anything you hear about this soldier in the future.

But haven't you and many others done the same?"

I can't speak for others. I have never termed PFC Lynch a hero. I do not know. She may well be, but that remains to be seen. I certainly do not dismiss the possibility.

Having served in the military, I will allow the military to judge her relative degree of valor. It's not my call. You, on the other hand, have already made up your mind that PFC Lynch is deserving of no more than the Purple Heart. Certainly she will be awarded that. Should she receive higher honors? I can't say, but I'm sure it will be considered, based on the investigation of the incident. But, you have already decided your position.

Look back at my messages. I have formed no opinion of PFC Lynch's behavior. You are the one doing that, and based on your own political viewpoint only.

As I pointed out earlier, you were not there. I was not either, which is why I'm not making any statements regarding the incident itself. I'm discussing _your_ statements.

[A2J]

Her injuries also indicate that she was fired upon.

What evidence do you have that proves that her wounds were received at the time of her capture and not after her capture?

[MineralMan]

"What evidence do you have that proves that her wounds were received at the time of her capture and not after her capture?
"

I have no reason to doubt that report, at this point. I'm in no position to review evidence at all, any more than you are. I'll leave that to the military.

[katnip]

Why was an entire Marine battalion used as a decoy aling with an entire Navy SEAL team and an entire Army CAG team used to rescue one Pfc female POW. And should we expect the same resources to be used for say the black woman who is now a POW ?

Are you implying that if Special OPs finds out the location of the black female soldier or even the rest of the male soldiers, they won't bother expending much resources to rescue them?

Man, I know soldiers that would punch someone out for that....

[A2J]

There is a lot of talk about how this will weaken the military and cost lives, but I am not seeing that happen.

You will see it when the liberals push for more than equal rights for women in combat to the point where women will outnumber men on the battlefield.

The one thing that levels the ground between the abilities of the sexes to wage war is the technological advances of precision bombing.

However, are you confident that a majority-female division can successfully fight a majority-male division in the absence of such technology?

I'm not.

[MineralMan]

"You keep making all these judgments about things you know nothing about ... "

Indeed. I'm going to abandon this thread at this point, since I need to make a living. It's clear that A2J's particular agenda has clouded his/her thinking on this subject. I've wasted enough time on him/her.

[agincourt1415]

Bronze Star or Silver Star, I would imagine.

[HairOfTheDog]

You will see it when the liberals push for more than equal rights for women in combat to the point where women will outnumber men on the battlefield.

That is paranoia. No one is pushing that, and if they did, they would be shot down. We are talking about the few women who wish to choose this as a vocation. This is a volunteer military. There no need, and no push, for drafting women to the point of numerical equality. Only the chance to fight where they can.

And I agree... it is the technological advances of fighting war with big metal machines and remote control devices that has opened the door to women serving on a very level playing field. If we were still fighting war only with swords and maces, we would not be having this debate. We are talking about modern war, with modern demands, that some women are quite capable of meeting. Muscle is not un-needed now or ever, but it isn't the only skill needed anymore.

[wtc911]

The bar for the MoH is set quite a bit higher. A Bronze Star for Valor and a PH are more likely. Please understand that this in no way diminishes her valor or determination in my eyes. She is outstanding.

[tpaine]

If we're all real lucky, he may go fishing again.