LYNCH BOOK BURNS GI DAD

New York Post ^ | 9/05/03 | CYNTHIA R. FAGEN

[kattracks]

September 5, 2003 -- The father of a soldier killed in the ambush in Iraq that Pvt. Jessica Lynch survived is furious she's getting a $1 million book deal.

"I don't have a problem about her writing about her life, but when it involves not only my son, but of the others injured, wounded or killed, why should one person make money over the deaths of other people?" said Randy Kiehl, the father of Army Spc. James Kiehl, who was killed in action.

[Ispy4u]

Maybe she will donate some of her proceeds to family members of those who died in her unit?

Not!

[raybbr]

Write your own book, crybaby.

[R. Scott]

Either Jessica gets the money, or some two bit journalist will write the book and get the money. I’d rather see it go to her.

[BushCountry]

Ditto

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

"My son posthumously received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star and the heartfelt thanks of a grateful nation," said Kiehl from his home in Comfort, Texas. "Now Jessica is going to write a book about it?"

Cripes. And the insurmountable impediment preventing you from penning your own offering about your son issssssssssssss... WHAT, exactly...?

[Russell Scott]

From what I have been told, she doesn't remember much of anything that happened after the accident. Sounds like a lot of fiction or third person accounts is going to have to provide details of the ordeal.

I agree with Savage, she was a good soldier doing her duty, but she isn't a hero. Gen. Washington, Paul Revere, Gen. Grant, Gen. Lee, Sgt. York, Audie Murphy, Pappy Boyington, Gen. MacArthur, Gen. Patton, the guys who took out Uday and Cusay, those are heros.

[solzhenitsyn]

I understand this father's grief. I don't understand his anger and hostility toward someone who was blameless in the death of his son. Ms. Lynch certainly has no less right to write a book about her experiences than anyone else. As she may need years of therapy for her injuries, it would seem a practical and sensible way to support herself.

[alloysteel]

The Great American Lottery.

It is like winning a lawsuit against some corporation with deep pockets, and a flimsy defense. Like in the case of the tobacco class action death suits. States got a huge windfall settlement, lawyers were handsomely rewarded, but the vast majority of the persons in whose name the lawsuits were brought originally, got squat and less than squat.

This is a parallel situation. A most fortunate survivor is awarded with the chance to tell her tale, and for this she draws a totally disproportionate award. Publishers and the holders of screen rights reap the further reward of having a built-in (and built-up) sympathetic story, which if told well, sells well. Most of the unnamed others, the wounded and dead, scarcely earn mention at all, except perhaps as a postscript to history.

[RushLake]

Don't forget all those boys either. The ones Trenton and Princeton, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Belleau Wood, Tarawa, Utah, Omaha, the Bulge, Inchon, Ia Drang. Just to name a few.

[jaykay]

I don't have a problem about her writing about her life, but when it involves not only my son, but of the others injured, wounded or killed, why should one person make money over the deaths of other people?"

The book announcement said that it was going to be about her life, not Mr. Keihl's son or others killed or wounded.

---

"My son posthumously received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star and the heartfelt thanks of a grateful nation," said Kiehl from his home in Comfort, Texas. "Now Jessica is going to write a book about it?"

Where did Mr. Keihl see anything about Lynch writing a book about his son?

---

NBC is making a tv movie about the ambush without paying anyone involved for the rights to their story. This was announced months ago, there has been no comment from Mr. Keihl critical of NBC, yet whithin a couple of days of Lynch's book announcement, he has comments ready to fly.

There is a book in the works about the 507th ambush, where is the critcism for that author and publisher. The announcement was made in early August. There are many books about the war being hawked by former embedded reporters. Some will likely be published. Will the same criticism be made?

I will attribute these remarks to the greif Mr. Keihl must be suffering over the loss of his son. He should not have been disturbed by a reporter hoping for inflammatory comments from someone with their guard down. Onward and downward with the media bottom feeders.

[G.Mason]

"He should not have been disturbed by a reporter hoping for inflammatory comments from someone with their guard down. Onward and downward with the media bottom feeders."

In a nut shell.

[afz400]

"Write your own book, crybaby."
Jessica Lynch is a media creation. She didn't write the book - Christ, she looks like she can't even read. What she is doing (profiting by the loss of fellow soldiers) is despicable. Seems like no one has any sense of decency anymore - everything is for the money. I for one think she remembers everything and is lying about what happened to protect higher ups. Flame me, but I think she stinks.

[kcordell]

Cripes. And the insurmountable impediment preventing you from penning your own offering about your son issssssssssssss... WHAT, exactly...?

A lack of intelligence and common sense.

[kcordell]

Flame me, but I think she stinks.

Ok.

First, she probably reads better than you, judging from your writing. She's not 'profiting on the loss of fellow soldiers'. The book hasn't been written yet contrary to your lie. The only 'lack of decency' I see is in your bitterness. And you would turn down an offer like she was given? BS!

[NetLiberty]

What she is doing (profiting by the loss of fellow soldiers) is despicable.

I'm with you. Jessica Lynch had the misfortune of being injured while riding riding in a truck, while other brave soldiers in her unit died fighting.

She deserves neither the Bronze Star she was awarded, nor the million dollar advance, and I couldn't be more outraged by the notion of her receiving this money while the family members of those killed in her unit receive small compensation.

Let me be one of the first to suggest that the right and decent thing to do would be for Jessica to give the proceeds of her book deal to the families of those killed in her unit.

[jaykay]

"What she is doing (profiting by the loss of fellow soldiers) is despicable."

What an utterly absurd comment. She is profiting from her own personal experiences. How do you twist that into profiting from the loss of fellow soldiers?

---

"She looks like she can't even read"

I guess you must resort to insults when you have nothing of substance to say.

[jaykay]

So you know better than her how she should use the proceeds of a legal commercial transaction? Karl Marx would be proud of you. Who else's income and property do you have designs on?

[NetLiberty]

So you know better than her how she should use the proceeds of a legal commercial transaction?

Just because it was legal doesn't make it moral. And it's not me thinking I know what's best; it's a matter of simple justice. Jessica's experience, while certainly painful and traumatic, does not compare to the others who died standing and fighting the enemy. She is, in a sense, an impostor.

A million dollars would go a long way in righting this wrong, by providing for the care and education of the families and children of the others killed in her unit.