Posted on 03/24/2003 7:42:00 PM PST by Plainsman
A PRETTY 19-year-old country girl who joined the US Army to escape unemployment was feared to be the first woman soldier to die yesterday.
Blonde Jessica Lynch was among 12 soldiers in a US supply convoy ambushed by Iraqi troops. Her parents were left weeping like others in America and Britain as more Coalition victims of the war were identified.
Supply clerk Jessica was feared dead after five survivors from the ambush were paraded before Iraqi TV cameras in sickening footage beamed around the world on Sunday.
Also shown were the bodies of the other seven members of the 507th Maintenance Co convoy, but Jessica’s parents could not identify her among them.
Her father Greg Lynch said: “The only thing they can tell us is she’s missing.
“I just want them to bring her back safely — her and all the rest of the kids.”
Private Jessica — known as Jessie — only joined up because she could not find a job in her farming community home town of Palestine, West Virginia.
Lorene Cumbridge, a 62-year-old cousin, said: “She’s just a West Virginia country girl. Warm-hearted. Outgoing. I really thought growing up she would become an elementary school teacher.
Missing ... supply clerk Jessica
But for West Virginia children in some of the more rural areas, the military is the one good chance of getting an education and making something of themselves.”
Lack of jobs and the military service of her older brother, Gregory Lynch Jr., led Jessica into the Army, her father said.
She signed up before graduating from Wirt County High School in Elizabeth, where she played basketball and softball.
Greg said: “The Army offered a good deal.” Jessica’s brother is stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Locals have been supporting Greg, Jessica’s mother Deidre, and her 17-year-old sister, Brandi Renee.
A yellow ribbon was tied to a tree near the family’s mailbox and two others were attached to posts on the front porch.
You still aren't explaining yourself. You are putting the cart before the horse. Physical strength is significantly different between men and women. If physical strength is a criterion for combat effectiveness (which it is), men have a significant advantage over women in that area, so "discrimination" based on that is appropriate. Skin color has nothing to do with combat effectiveness, so it is a totally inappropriate consideration in the military, and thus racial prejudice has no place in the military. Convince me that physical strength is not important to combat effectiveness, or that men and women are no different in this area.
And standards should not be lowered to include women. Never.
Well guess what, they are. I've seen men "help" women in the military many times, and "studies" are often based on the results of such "cooperation." I don't put much stock in studies when they conflict with what I personally experienced. Physical fitness and training standards were significantly different for the sexes in the Marines last time I checked.
But women should not be kept out because men feel this need to protect them.
Again, you have it backwards. They are kept out of combat roles primarily because they do not add to, and in some cases detract from the combat effectiveness of the unit. The desire to protect women, is a secondary, although important consideration, and does not lessen the importance of men.
That is the same argument that was used agianst the integration of blacks. And it was true until whites got used to working with blacks. See this post for a better explanation. Yes, there are physical differences between the sexes and I realize that standards have been lowered in order to appease the feminists. That is wrong. But when women can meet the standards, they should not be held back because it might distract some man. That will only change if we integrate.
Okay, this is a message board where people are allowed to post their opinion. You can either agree with their opinion or not, and you are free to express your opinion, to which they either agree or disagree. So that's how it works....got it?
What are you going to do hon? No one here has bashed or discredited this poor woman. Many of us simply think that women should not be in combat and we hope this policy changes. There is sound reasoning with infinite historical precedence against women in combat. Yes indeed...I regret more when a girl is killed or captured. I also lament more when children are killed by bombs than old folks. That is my nature. I am a male human. The military is not about choice or fairness.
My point exactly. It is not OK for six guys to die protecting a women. And we are wrong for perpetuating the notion that men are the protectors and should die protecting women. It's disgusting.
Sounds like an excellent recruitment slogan for the Palestinians. And they seem to be using it too, now.
Either a desperate one or a morally corrupted one. For whatever reason...it's a society doomed. For now...it's an indulgence we will grow to rue.
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