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.

[wtc911]

The only ones I have heard referred to as Heroes on 9/11 are the uniformed services people who died after they entered the Trade Center to save people. I have not heard any responsible person refer to the civilian victims as heroes. Try not to be so petty...it makes you look small.

[wtc911]

Your reference to Lynch as a "female" pow and your question about whether the military would expend the same effort to rescue a "black female" pow says volumes about you and nothing at all about our military.

[skeeter]

I don't think its paranoia. In the early 90's Cpt Linda Bray was credited for being the first woman to lead men into battle by crashing her jeep into a guard compound & spraying the enemy with .50 cal machine gun fire. She was trotted out before all four morning talk shows, and eventually Rep. Patricia Shroeder (D-Colorado) was using Bray as an example of why laws barring woman from combat should be repealed. Never mind the initial reports of here actions were totally bogus.

Though the Army must take the blame for originally producing the exaggerated reports of Bray's heroics, this illustration justified the fear and mistrust of "mob journalism" spreading inaccuracies and blowing stories well out of proportion. The Linda Bray example shows how the media in Panama was often more interested in story ideas that provided sales and exposure rather than ones that provided accurate information.

[HairOfTheDog]

It is paranoid to think that there is a serious issue that anyone is pushing for "women outnumbering men on the battlefield" and "majority female divisions". It was a straw-man argument, and a silly waste of time. That is what he alleged in the post I responded to when I called it paranoia.

The issue of anyone blowing Miss Lynch out of proportion was not addressed in the post. Not that anyone with an agenda isn't capable and likely to blow anything out of proportion. Of course they are. Both sides are capable of that.

[CharacterCounts]

Since you were also not there, then why should your opinion count more than mine?

Right now, obviously, the final verdict is up in the air.

However, the available evidence including broken legs, a broken arm, gunshot wounds, a possible stab wound tend to support the claim that the soldier stood her ground and opposed the enemy with honor and valor.

[WVNan]

Hero or not, Jessica Lynch is the embodiment of American character and heart that has preserved this country from its beginning. Traits which still exist in "fly-over" country, and especially in the people of West Virginia. You find very few cowardly people in these hills. They are rugged, proud people who still love God and country, and in that order.

[ought-six]

"At best, she deserves the Purple Heart as well as a soon-to-be-created Iraq Campaign medal."

She'll certainly get the Purple Heart. She might even get a Bronze Star. It's unlikely she'll get anything higher than a Bronze Star.

[skeeter]

I also doubt women will outnumber men on the battlefield anytime soon. I was referring to A2J's comment in the context of this thread, not his use of hyperbole in making his point.

Anyway, my comments for what they're worth.

[It's me]

To be a hero you must "go above and beyond the call of duty," and she DID. Her assignment was to supply the troops, but instead, she fought the enemy to the death (or in her case capture).



(It's Me's 13 year old son)

[BSunday]

No, she's going to play a role created just for her - "Baghdad Rose"

[Redcloak]

...why would the Iraqis allow her to live after she allegedly blows away some of their finest?

The comrades of the room-temp Iraqis probably did want to kill her. My guess is that someone with a little more seniority saw her as a potential propaganda tool; "a poor teenager sent to war by Bush" or some such nonsense.

[ought-six]

"And the reason is ..."

And the reason is her actions were not such that anything above a bronze star would be warranted. Consider the facts, as we know them (and my analysis and opinion is based SOLELY on the facts, as we presently know them). She no doubt resisted, and suffered capture and likely torture. She sustained two broken legs, a broken arm, and an injury to her spine. She did not suffer any combat wounds (i.e., gunshot or knife/stabbing wounds). The earlier report that "...while suffering from gunshot wounds she fired her weapon until she ran out of ammunition, rather than be taken alive, hitting several of the enemy..." has not only not been supported by evidence, she herself (and her doctors) have basically refuted it. Don't get me wrong: I have tremendous admiration and respect for PFC Lynch. But given the fact that most of the POWs from Vietnam, for instance, who suffered YEARS of captivity and torture, under absolutely brutal conditions, never received anything above a Bronze Star (and many of them never even got that!), I am not sure she has earned a Bronze Star, but I would certainly not think the medal had been cheapened in any way if she were, in fact, awarded it.

[LouisianaJoanof Arc]

Even if she did all that is claimed, she would only be a soldier, not a hero

Wrong. A hero is one who shows great courage, amongst other definitions.

[ought-six]

"Now that the truth is coming out ... where did all the naysayers go ... Jessica's family has just been told her legs were BROKEN BY GUNSHOTS ... she also has a broken back ... looks like the story is unfolding ... "

Not quite. Her doctors said she had the broken bones, but the they found no evidence of gunshot wounds or stab wounds. This was on the radio earlier this morning, and will likely be on Fox News, as well. She underwent surgery for her back injury (described as a "broken disc"), and is recovering nicely.