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Command Releases Details of Lynch Rescue
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news ^ | 6 minutes ago Sat, Apr 05, 2003 | By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer

Posted on 04/05/2003 6:27:51 AM PST by ATOMIC_PUNK

Command Releases Details of Lynch Rescue
6 minutes ago

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


TOPICS: Breaking News; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: extraction; jessicalynch; rescue
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To: cake_crumb
My heart and prayers go out to their families.

Yours and a lot of other folks. Mine too.

They'll be needing all of that they can get, and more.

-archy-/-

121 posted on 04/05/2003 12:25:22 PM PST by archy (Keep in mind that the milk of human kindness comes from a beast that is both cannibal and a vampire.)
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To: NautiNurse
Do you think any of the rats will actually go?
Their stand is "anti-war- -pro-troops", grandstanding to germany (small "g" as small "f" in france) would be a Byrd thing.

But honestly, nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to rat grandstanding. When Kerry was talking about regime change he needed to mention the DNC.
122 posted on 04/05/2003 12:30:57 PM PST by JoeSixPack1 (POW/MIA - Bring 'em home, or send us back! Semper Fi)
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To: DED
Welcome, member of two days.

123 posted on 04/05/2003 12:33:49 PM PST by MonroeDNA ("Jessica Lynch! We are United States soldiersand we're here to protect you and take you home.")
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To: Fishtalk
It really is amazing the venom directed at HER.....afterall, she is not the one calling herself a hero, and she is not the one making all this fuss...

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........

124 posted on 04/05/2003 12:46:05 PM PST by cherry
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To: GOP_Proud
Speaking as a West "by God" Virginian, I have to tell you that Jessica's accent (when you finally hear from her) will be "northern hillbilly" much the same as what you've heard from her family. Palestine is in northern WV near Ohio. I'd say the voice of Holly Hunter is more near what she will sound like. Here in WV we have less of a draw in our speech than southern as in ...say...Georgia. To New England it may sound like a draw in our speech. Make no mistake, we are proud of our hillbilly status. "Hillbilly" is all in how you use it.

You tellem GOP!!! I am probably an hour maybe from Palestine...actually how far is that from Parkersburg WVA. Oh who cares!! I was born in WVA and work in WVA even tho I now live in Ohio...just a rivers width away and I LOVE West Virginians....I tell you what there is no one I'd rather have in a fox hole with me(I was saying that long before this war) if I had to fight. They may not be polished and they may have a hillbilly accent but they are tough and stick to their guns, and are good people. The story about Jessica is so amazing. I am a woman and can not imagine.
125 posted on 04/05/2003 12:46:27 PM PST by BriarBey
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To: cherry
...and one more thing.....

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

126 posted on 04/05/2003 12:50:00 PM PST by cherry
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To: JoeSixPack1
And Jessica is from West Virginia. So what southern accent are you speaking of?

huh?

127 posted on 04/05/2003 12:51:49 PM PST by thatdewd
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To: Eowyn-of-Rohan
The POWs who did not survive should be considered heroes as much as Pvt. Lynch. Her survival does not make her a hero, for the most part it means she was lucky.


At a time like this, people need hope to grab ahold of. There is no hope in watching them bring back our boys dead. Its over. We will always love them and appreciate them and thank God for them, but they are gone. Jessica is not!! She is one the enemy did not get to kill and that point we celebrate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quit looking for things to pick about and celebrate with us. Sounds to me like your glass is usually 1/2 empty.
128 posted on 04/05/2003 12:55:52 PM PST by BriarBey
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To: archy
Agreed, interrogation of the Iraqi doctor will probably reveal a wealth of intel, whether he was trying to help her or was simply a bad guy nabbed by our forces and make to talk.

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.

129 posted on 04/05/2003 1:03:37 PM PST by cake_crumb (UN Resolutions= Very Expensive, Very SCRATCHY Toilet Paper)
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To: Catspaw
This isn't difficult to understand. When she was captured, her kidnappers knew she would be valuable for any negotiations that happened. She was rescued in a raid, so there was no opportunity to use her as the kidnappers hoped.
130 posted on 04/05/2003 1:12:45 PM PST by GraniteStateConservative (Putting government in charge of morality is like putting pedophiles in charge of children.)
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To: GOP_Proud
I don't know about the accent part. Her brother doesn't have one.
131 posted on 04/05/2003 1:15:35 PM PST by Hillarys Gate Cult ("Read Hillary's hips. I never had sex with that woman.")
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To: NautiNurse
This event has all the trappings for a really good movie.

"Saving Private Lynch" - literally.

132 posted on 04/05/2003 1:22:21 PM PST by CharacterCounts
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To: BriarBey
"At a time like this, people need hope to grab ahold of. There is no hope in watching them bring back our boys dead. Its over. We will always love them and appreciate them and thank God for them, but they are gone. Jessica is not!! She is one the enemy did not get to kill and that point we celebrate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quit looking for things to pick about and celebrate with us "

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...

133 posted on 04/05/2003 1:25:32 PM PST by Eowyn-of-Rohan
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To: ATOMIC_PUNK
I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but did anyone notice that Jessica appeared to be wearing makeup in the photo of her being carried on the stretcher?

No, I'm not trying to prove anything, just curious...

134 posted on 04/05/2003 1:42:41 PM PST by snopercod
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To: JoeSixPack1
I wouldn't expect that any Rats actually accompanied the Lynch family to Germany. Was using the mileage term metaphorically--as in political mileage.

Like you--nothing really surprises me anymore.

135 posted on 04/05/2003 1:43:06 PM PST by NautiNurse (Michael Moore: Trolling for Concubine)
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To: Eowyn-of-Rohan; PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain; NautiNurse
Eowyn and Curtain...you are reading into the movie production 'possibility' all wrong. Nurse was sharing that it would be a wonderful testament to the courage and dedication PFC Lynch maintained throughout her ordeal.

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.

136 posted on 04/05/2003 2:48:05 PM PST by homeschool mama
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To: dixiechick2000
Isn't that a great article? :o)

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.

137 posted on 04/05/2003 2:50:02 PM PST by homeschool mama
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To: JoeSixPack1; NautiNurse
**They have the cash ability to outbid all others. **

Who's to say Lynch would even consider it, much less go for the highest bidder?

138 posted on 04/05/2003 2:51:49 PM PST by homeschool mama
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To: Fishtalk
bingo.
139 posted on 04/05/2003 2:54:35 PM PST by homeschool mama
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To: archy
Prayers heavenward for these precious souls and their loved ones. <><
140 posted on 04/05/2003 2:55:06 PM PST by homeschool mama
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