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Rescued POW Put Up Fierce Fight
CBSNews.com ^ | April 3, 2003 | CBS

Posted on 04/03/2003 6:14:02 AM PST by 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.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iraqipow; iraqipows; jessicalynch
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1 posted on 04/03/2003 6:14:02 AM PST by rockinonritalin
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To: rockinonritalin
Jessica's dad said yesterday that she was tough. He attributed a lot of it to being raised in the country and having an older brother. I guess he was right.
2 posted on 04/03/2003 6:15:15 AM PST by rockinonritalin
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To: rockinonritalin
I smell a movie deal in the works.

"Jessica's War"
3 posted on 04/03/2003 6:16:22 AM PST by finnman69
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To: finnman69
Kirsten Dunst has already signed to play Jessica.
4 posted on 04/03/2003 6:18:32 AM PST by CholeraJoe (OO-OOH Can't anybody see? We've got a war to fight.)
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To: rockinonritalin
"She wants to become a teacher, and we are going to see that she becomes one,"

I suspect she will become a very good one..............
5 posted on 04/03/2003 6:18:36 AM PST by PeterPrinciple
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To: rockinonritalin
Fight to the Death! Girl from West Virginia, darn right she could teach some Kindergarten.
6 posted on 04/03/2003 6:18:59 AM PST by agincourt1415
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To: PeterPrinciple
I suspect she will become a very good one..............

Bet she doesn't take any crap off of the kids in her class... :-)

7 posted on 04/03/2003 6:20:36 AM PST by Riley
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To: rockinonritalin
Little girl...willing to fight to the death... Welcome to America, Achmed.

I really bity the poor bastards we're up against. I really do.

8 posted on 04/03/2003 6:21:02 AM PST by Cyber Liberty (© 2003, Ravin' Lunatic since 4/98)
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To: rockinonritalin
"She's real spirited. She hasn't eaten in eight days and she's hungry," said her father, Greg Lynch. "She wants some food."

I keep hearing this - even talking to her parents this is reported to be her words.
We don't know the extent of her wounds -could be stomach or intestine related so they won' let her have solid food... otherwise I would think they' be feeding the hell out of her to get hre back to health.

9 posted on 04/03/2003 6:21:32 AM PST by grobdriver
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To: m1911
Mountaineer Bump
10 posted on 04/03/2003 6:22:15 AM PST by CapandBall
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To: agincourt1415
What a great story. A salute to this young woman !
11 posted on 04/03/2003 6:22:26 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: PeterPrinciple
She has already done some teachin' out in Iraq!
12 posted on 04/03/2003 6:25:31 AM PST by EricT.
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To: agincourt1415
Her fellow teachers will be her new enemy. I'm sure they will keep it to themselves, out of fear she'd neutralize them.

Nothing would scare the teachers unions more than a female gradeschool teacher with a kill record and survival skills.

God bless her and her well based family.

13 posted on 04/03/2003 6:25:46 AM PST by blackdog (Peace, love, and understanding.....$10 bucks a hit in America.)
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To: CholeraJoe
Madonna will fight for the movie role.
14 posted on 04/03/2003 6:27:20 AM PST by Black Bart
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To: Black Bart
How the heck can that old hag play a 19 year old?
15 posted on 04/03/2003 6:28:17 AM PST by CholeraJoe (OO-OOH Can't anybody see? We've got a war to fight.)
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To: Black Bart
Madonna will fight for the movie role.

Madonna is to old. This looks like a britney part.

16 posted on 04/03/2003 6:30:27 AM PST by kjam22
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To: rockinonritalin
"She was fighting to the death," the Washington Post quoted an official as saying. "She did not want to be taken alive."


One hell of a soldier!

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

Wow, I've heard and not stated an opinion on women on the front lines, but with a soldier like this who is fighting to the death and then survives with serious injuries for EIGHT days with little or no food. This is one hell of a lady and soldier. Bet she took out some Iraqi combatants while she sustained her own injuries.
What do you all think? I think the broken bones were post capture and inflicted as a torture method.
17 posted on 04/03/2003 6:30:57 AM PST by glory
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Comment #18 Removed by Moderator

To: Black Bart
Madonna will fight for the movie role.

To play Jessica's mother?

19 posted on 04/03/2003 6:34:00 AM PST by girlscout
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To: rockinonritalin
Meanwhile those ruffian Iraqi fighters are given up by the boatload. Betcha Jessica has no french blood in her family history.
20 posted on 04/03/2003 6:34:27 AM PST by God luvs America
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