Posted on 04/05/2003 1:18:38 AM PST by kattracks
Pfc. Jessica Lynch was beaten more severely than first reports indicated, doctors said yesterday.Besides two broken legs and a broken arm, the 19-year-old Army truck driver suffered fractures to her right foot, right ankle and a disk in her spine, and had a gash on her head.
Lynch underwent spinal surgery Thursday to repair the fractured disk that had been pressing painfully on a nerve, doctors at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany reported yesterday.
"The prognosis for her recovery is excellent," said Col. David Rubenstein, the medical center commander.
Officials have refused to say why so many of Lynch's bones were broken, but it's likely she was tortured. An Iraqi man who told the Americans where to find her urged the troops to hurry, saying she was being tortured. He later described a scene where the helpless woman was being slapped by a black-clad member of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's thuggish Fedayeen.
Despite her ordeal, Lynch was in good spirits, asking for turkey, a pair of glasses and a newspaper from her hometown of Palestine, W.Va.
"Her emotional state is extremely good - she's jovial, she's talking with staff," Rubenstein said. He said she was particularly cheered by the pink casts she requested.
She will need "extensive rehabilitative services," he continued, but was expected to recover completely.
She's "a daughter any parent would be proud of," he added.
A friend from her unit is with her and has spoken by telephone with her family, Rubenstein said.
The military also accommodated a request from Lynch, who was being fed intravenously, for solid foods. From her list of favorites, cooks in the hospital kitchen delivered an order of turkey, apple sauce and steamed carrots.
The private has no television in her hospital room, on Rubenstein's orders. And Lynch's father back in the U.S. confirmed that doctors have asked him not to discuss her ordeal with her.
"We will answer her questions when she asks them," Rubenstein said.
Nine of 11 bodies discovered in the raid that freed Lynch are believed to be those of American soldiers. Those bodies were transported yesterday to Dover, Del.
With News Wire Services
Remember how the doctors that worked on Reagan couldn't figure out why he looked ashen and was having trouble breathing? Took them a while to find the entrance hole in his armpit.
Now if this was a veterans' hospital, I'd say you were lucky that they knew she was female.
Can't MRI these people as metal in them can be lethal if magnetic resonance hits it. And CAT scanning the whole body can take time.
The hard part is figuring out if there is a news source that's trustworthy.
We, as a civilized and enlightened society, value and recognize the courage, skill and dedication of our heroic females to their military service.
But we, as human beings who choose to kill and die in wars to protect and guarantee the future of our people - cannot deny the natural truth that women are far too valuable to waste in battle. It's a primal evolutionary mandate. Women are more important to the ongoing continuation of our species, our people, than are men. That's why men fight wars, we are interchangable parts. Every single woman is a giver of life to our next generation.
The rescue of Private Lynch was a story of great interest and joy EXACTLY because she was a young FEMALE POW. If the Seals and Rangers would have retreived Sgt. Joe Testosterone, it would never have made the news. Men save each other, die in support of each other, and press on after losing one each other in every war, throughout time. More importantly, men will not jeopardize a mission, risk their lives and those of their comrades in an effort to provide special attention or support to another man. They will do that for a woman. It's a primal, visceral reaction and that's a vulnerability in battle, and it is an invitation for an enemy to use their possession and threatened torture of a female American as a way to leverage some concession or throuth Psy-Ops corrupt the morale of the citizens back in that soldier's country.
There is no way to deny that a woman who is struggling under seige in battle will affect the behavior of the men around her in a way another man would not. We had 4 or 5 POWs paraded before the Iraqi camera that Sunday, yet the soldier that the media focused upon was the single mother, that young soldier named Shoshana. It was natural, that her imprisonment was more disturbing and offputting than the 4 young men ... all heros loved by their country and families ... being held by our brutal enemies were.
That's why men have fought the wars for the protection of their families and the future survival of their people throughout history. It's about ensuring the continuation of our species, our people, our nation. Any single woman, in that context, is irreplacable. Every single man is dispensible. That's just the way it is. Xena is a cartoon character.
I don't agree. A great deal of coverage was given to Scott O'Grady back when he was rescued. I suppose you'll say he got so much attention because he's telegenic.
Given the daring of the rescue mission, Joe Testosterone would have received just as much attention.
I also don't agree. If the Iraqi lawyer had secretly slipped a note to the US guys that Joe Testosterone was being held and tortured in the nassiria hospital, i think the outcome would have been exactly the same, even if the media effect less sensational.
i for one have reluctantly come to the conclusion that women in the military, and in combat, are a net plus for a number of reasons. if this raises the bar in improving the general safety of soldiers, in order to make it safer for women as a a side benefit, i am all for it.
the truth of the matter is that Jessica Lynch and her toughness has struck a blow into the fanatical mindset of the Arabs, and anyone who has the mistaken belief that America has grown soft -- and from that mistaken belief arise wars (the degenerate Clinton did much to create the belief of this softness and this in and of itself helped bring about 9/11)
So, is this the Lord's way of saying "Your a$$ is grass"?
I wonder if she was tortured also? To me it still seems better if moms were home raising their small children. They were interviewing some women soldiers at Fort Bliss ---some do seem like they'd be very tough good soldiers.
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