Posted on 04/05/2003 6:27:51 AM PST by ATOMIC_PUNK
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6 minutes ago
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By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar - Frightened and seriously wounded, a 19-year-old supply clerk who was held by Iraq (news - web sites) for more than a week at first hid under a sheet when a team of U.S. military commandos stormed into her hospital room.
"Jessica Lynch," called out an American soldier, approaching her bed. "We are United States soldiers and we're here to protect you and take you home."
Peering from behind the sheet as he removed his helmet, she looked up and said, "I'm an American soldier, too."
In the first details released about the daring rescue of Pfc. Lynch, a Central Command spokesman told a briefing Saturday that a team of Navy Seals, Marine commandos, Air Force pilots and Army Rangers worked with U.S. Special Forces in the rescue Tuesday in Nasiriyah.
While troops engaged the Iraqis in another part of the city, the team persuaded an Iraqi doctor to lead them to Lynch, said Air Force Maj. Gen. Gene Renuart.
Lynch, now recuperating at the military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, had suffered a head wound and fractures in her right arm, both legs, her right foot and ankle, and an injury to her spine. The rescue team quickly evaluated her medical condition, secured her to a stretcher and carried her to a waiting helicopter, Renault said.
"Jessica held up her hand and grabbed the Ranger doctor's hand, and held onto it for the entire time, and said, 'Please don't let anybody leave me,'" Renault said. "It was clear she knew where she was and didn't want to be left anywhere near the enemy."
Meanwhile, the Iraqi doctor told the team there were remains of other U.S. forces nearby, and they were led to a burial site. Because they had not brought shovels, Renault said, the team dug up the bodies with their hands.
"They wanted to do that very rapidly, so they could race the sun and be off the site before the sun came up," Renault said. "It's a great testament to the will and desire of coalition forces to bring their own home."
Renault did not shed any new light on how Lynch sustained her wounds — whether she was injured in captivity or when the 507th Maintenance Company was ambushed March 23 when they made a wrong turn in Nasiriyah.
Eight of the dead soldiers found during the rescue were members of the ambushed unit, Renuart said. The ninth was a soldier from a forward support group of the Army's Third Infantry Division, he said. All have been transported back to the United States.
Lynch's family in West Virginia said doctors had determined she'd been shot. They found two entry and exit wounds "consistent with low-velocity, small-caliber rounds," said her mother, Deadra Lynch.
She had a back operation Thursday and surgery for other broken bones Friday, said the commander of the hospital, Col. David Rubenstein. A friend is at her bedside and although she's still being fed intravenously, she's drawn up a list of her favorite foods for the hospital: turkey, steamed carrots and applesauce.
"Her emotional state is extremely good. She's jovial. She's talking with staff," Rubenstein said.
Lynch's family was to fly Saturday from from Charleston, W.Va., to Germany to see her.
While the U.S. team was in the hospital, Renault said, they also found a weapons cache and a large-scale sandbox model in the basement that accurately depicted U.S. and Iraqi positions in Nasiriyah
Yours and a lot of other folks. Mine too.
They'll be needing all of that they can get, and more.
-archy-/-
Life is not fair...just look at the attention E. Smart got and look at the attention others get...which is to say, most people get NO ATTENTION.....but that is life...
sometimes I think people would rather have had another American mortality with Jessica L. filling the bill...
she is alive....its a great story....
what is the problem with fawning over someone .....
look how we fawn ( not me!) over athletes.....
I should think a working class kid is worth a little hoopla when she manages to stay alive and come home from war........
those guys who rescued Jessica and carried her broken body so carefully to the chopper ( except for the one guy who tripped going up the plank...lol) ....those guys who rescued her are proud...are proud and jubilant that they could do that....
they will have stories to tell their grandchildren....
I don't know what stories Jessica will want to tell...but I would bet that being carried and protected and surrounded by some of the nations' finest young men will fill her life with good memories....in any other circumstances, that would be a girl's dream....lol
huh?
Pfc Lynch's injuries are quite unusual. Those broken legs and arm have been bothering me ever since she was rescued.
Good theory about the possibility of Iraqi troops targeting women in order to force the Allies to withdraw female troops. I HOPE Pfc Piestawa wasn't subjected to the same treatment. Just by those vedeo tapes Iraq is so eager to broadcast on the Terrorist News Network, we know they couldn't care less about the Geneva convention.
"Saving Private Lynch" - literally.
I didn't mean to put a damper on the celebration...sorry about that. I really am celebrating too. I can't read or see anything about her without crying from relief and happiness for her and her family. But I am so sad for the other soldiers and families. I lost my only brother. I really feel the pain of the ones who have lost their brothers, or sisters, you know..sorry for being a drag though...
No, I'm not trying to prove anything, just curious...
Like you--nothing really surprises me anymore.
Who's to say Hollyweird would even make the movie? Are you not aware there are actually decent production companies out there that would be willing and able to depict Lynch and the entire US Govt and Military in a positive way? Besides, PFC Lynch may not even *want* or *consider* such a route for her story.
I know this is an emotional issue for many...but if we slow down and ask folks to explain their stance further rather than rushing to judgement (wrong, I might add)... you'd receive a better response.
God bless Mohammed for risking so much in order to help save Lynch. From what I understand, they've (Mohammed, wife and daughter) been granted refugee status and are in Kuwait.
Who's to say Lynch would even consider it, much less go for the highest bidder?
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