Posted on 05/08/2003 11:08:58 AM PDT by Destro
POW's Memory Is Casualty Of War
WASHINGTON, May 8, 2003
(CBS) It's unlikely that Pfc. Jessica Lynch will ever remember what happened in Iraq when her Army convoy was ambushed and she was taken as a prisoner of war, her doctor said Thursday.
This information sheds new light on a small part of the war that has been shrouded in secrecy — with various versions only now emerging about Lynch's injuries nearly seven weeks ago and the commando raid that rescued her April 1.
Doctors have completed surgeries for various fractures and broken bones that the 20-year-old Army clerk suffered in the war and she is "progressing very nicely" in her rehabilitation, said Dr. Greg Argyros.
But she has "no memory whatsoever of any of the events from the time her convoy came under attack until she woke up" in an Iraqi hospital, said Argyros, assistant chief for the Department of Medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and head of the team handling Lynch's care.
He said it's not a case of amnesia, which he defined as forgetting something you once knew. Rather, Lynch simply has no memory of the ambush March 23 that resulted in her capture.
"Anytime anybody goes through a traumatic event of any kind, there is the risk that they may have a period that they don't remember what happened" during that event, Argyros said in an interview on NBC's "Today" show.
Asked if she will ever remember, Argyros said there's only a small chance.
"It appears after the evaluations that we have done thus far, that there's a chance in the future that she may," he said. "But the likelihood is very low that she will remember any of the events from the time of the attack until the time she woke up in the Iraqi hospital."
Speaking with CBS News Early Show Co-Anchor Harry Smith, Jessica's brother, Army Pfc. Greg Lynch, said her recovery — both physical and psychological — has proceeded well. She recently celebrated her 20th birthday with her family at Walter Reed hospital.
"Every day is a better day for her," Lynch said. "She's just like we were just when we were back home."
However, Jessica Lynch still cannot stand on her own power, and Greg Lynch said there is no date for her release from the hospital.
As for her memories of the attack, "That's an issue we don't really bug with her."
Officials said last month that Lynch was rescued in a daring commando raid April 1 at the hospital in the southern town of Nasariyah, with special forces breaking down doors and spiriting her away.
In an April 2, briefing, Central Command spokesman Gen. Vincent Brooks said of the raid: "There was not a fire fight inside of the building, I will tell you, but there were fire fights outside of the building, getting in and getting out."
At the same briefing, Brooks showed dramatic film and still pictures of the raid. In one photograph, Lynch is shown aboard a U.S. helicopter with a folded American flag on her chest.
But reports have emerged that the raid may have been unnecessary because there was no resistance at the hospital.
Since the raid, several news organizations reported differing versions of the rescue, citing doctors who said they had tried earlier to take Lynch to American forces but were fired on as they approached.
Those reports said that her Iraqi captors had left the hospital during the last days of March and that hospital medical staff took Lynch in an ambulance to a U.S. checkpoint but couldn't get close enough to hand her over.
A couple of days later, U.S. troops burst into the hospital, doctors said, adding that they could simply have walked in with no problem because there were no Iraqi guards left.
Military officials have said that Lynch's last memory of the attack after which she was captured is a rocket-propelled grenade hitting the vehicle she was riding in.
Some time after that, she suffered fractures in her upper right arm and in several ribs, along with injuries to her back, right foot and upper shoulder blade. She also suffered breaks in two portions of her left leg, part of her right leg and lacerations of her scalp, Argyros said.
Shortly after her release, Jessica's father said her wounds were not battle related. But staff at the Iraqi hospital deny any claims that she was mistreated while there.
According to her brother, Jessica is aware, but not in awe, of how widely her story has been told.
"She's not really looking at it as being a so-called celebrity star or a hero or anything. She's just being herself," Greg Lynch told Smith.
The Iraqi lawyer who tipped U.S. soldiers off to Lynch's location was granted asylum in the United States this week.
I was flamed pretty heavy for suggesting that the Washington Post story of Private Lynch fighting off the Iraqi's Private York till overpowered seemed phoney/contrived especially since no eyewitness testimony for this was cited nor did the testimony come from Pvt. Lynch herself who remembers nothing of the attack and seems to have been combat ineffective from moment the rocket-propelled grenade hit her vehicle.
So were the feminists who want women in combat responsible for that earlier version of the story? Or was it just standard war time propaganda?
... I was flamed pretty heavy ...Indeed. I would flame you again but what would be the point? You'll have to sort this out for yourself. Otherwise, you'll never learn.
First reports were that she walked into the hospital under her own power. Then came the gunshot wounds lies.
Now we have these ridiculous stories that the US government wants her to remember her capture so she can testify against her captors. Considering other members of her unit were captured alive it would seem hardly necessary for her to be the only one who can say what happened during the first moments of the ambush.
The women's groups and their cohorts in the media are using this private for their own agenda, truth be damned.
If she truly has no memory of the ambush, I say that is a blessing.
GET WELL PVT. LYNCH.......
The doctors at the Iraqi hospital said they thought her injuries were due to blunt force trauma, as in falling out of her vehicle. It's quite possible that the force of the rocket-propelled grenade blasted her out of the truck, knocking her unconscious, and she has nothing to remember until waking up. It's too bad she still can't stand on her own yet, but her youth and previous excellent condition will hopefully pull her through to complete recovery.
No we need more women fighting on the front lines. Teach them karate and they will conquer the world.
And how much did it all cost?
... Asclepius, lose the self-righteous attitude ...I chose not to flame him this time, didn't I? What more can one do? I'm sure he'll find his way eventually. I only wish it could be sooner and not later.
The Iraqui troops or fedayeeen, maybe? The other POW's who lived were not treated well, but were not beaten as badly as she was. That could indicate that they were "getting even" because she took a few out. Just my theory, but it makes sense.
I love the discord!Do you mean the alleged discrepency?
So if she has no memory--whose memory was cited?And how did she end up with broken limbs after her capture? Inquiring minds and all that.
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