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 Jessicas parents could not identify her among them.
Her father Greg Lynch said: The only thing they can tell us is shes 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: Shes 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. Jessicas brother is stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Locals have been supporting Greg, Jessicas mother Deidre, and her 17-year-old sister, Brandi Renee.
A yellow ribbon was tied to a tree near the familys mailbox and two others were attached to posts on the front porch.
Unless of course you are talking about a group of PMS-afflicted, perimenopausal women...like me. WE could take out Saddam all by ourselves. ;^)
I would like to point out that women have always been among war casualties, only they would be serving as nurses, etc. There are countless stories of women soldiers throughout history...think Joan of Arc for starters.
It still stinks, the loss of our finest citizens, most willing to defend their country and their values.
I pray for her safety and the safety of all children, on both sides of the conflict.
From the article:
Blonde Jessica Lynch was among 12 soldiers in a US supply convoy ambushed by Iraqi troops.
Well, if she wasn't among the seven dead or among the five shown alive, then my math says she must be among the figments of someone's imagination. Who besides the Sun says she exists and who said she wasn't among the dead if she did exist?
Yeah, women are taking quite a chance joining the service:
Gulf war vet executed for rape and murder of female soldier
Women should really just stay at home! Wait a minute... that's even less safe:
"Women are five to eight times more likely than men to be vicitmized by an intimate partner."
Hmmm.... seems like nowhere is safe for a female.
btw, the female soldier was not combat. She was maintenance. Count me (a female) among those that considers this article as sensational tripe that worked. That soldier (if she existed) deserved far better.
Any doubt what fate awaits her in the hands claws of the Islamo-fascists?
I agree.
It is interesting to note the use of the term "girl" to describe this 19 year-old woman. Usually the press is crucified for this kind of "slip" but I imagine that no feminist will protest. Call it a hunch...
The Marines would be in Baghdad within the hour and there would be 75,000 dead RG soldiers lining the roads.
BUMP
A resupply unit isn't rear-ward and non-combat enough? What unit would be, then?
So which is it? Do you want women to serve in the military or not? Either you lower the standards or women won't make the cut. It's that simple. Yes, you can find notable exceptions, but they are just that-- women who deviate so far from the mean that they are worthy of comment. If you think that the 5 or 10 freaks of nature to be found who could actually compete physically with men head to head justifies building separate facilities for women, then you truly are a liberal.
You are 18, aren't you?
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