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

[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

[DED]

I hope you and Rush are wrong. Although I like Rush OK, I don't think he needed to speculate like that - although the family is going to find out what happened, they surely didn't need to be wondering about stuff like that.
There was a comment on Michael Reagan that same day referring to some idiot calling Rush - thanks for filling me in as to what happened.
One other comment - yes, she's a hero in my book, as would any 95 lb. girl who "fired until she ran out of ammunition and then fought hand-to-hand" with the Iraqi scum, but here in WV, everyone's falling all over themselves to honor her (two colleges offered scholarships, paper is sending her to Hawaii, politician wants her honored in the legislature, etc.) to the point where they seem to have completely forgotten that we have other young people in the state who won't be coming back at all.
Kudos to Lynch's grandmother who, instead of exclusively exulting over Jessie's rescue, spoke of how bad she felt for families whose kids wouldn't be coming home.

[Zebra]

Rush had a caller this past Friday, a caller he refers to as a member of the "2 inch club".

From the sound of this creep, the handle is probably a reference to reproductive organ size.

[GOP_Proud]

on = one...so much for trying to be funny.

[DED]

Good to hear from one of the other 112 Republicans in WV!

[DED]

It may have been Pelosi's husband....

[homeschool mama]

**How about that Rush caller who was so angry that Jessica's getting so much hoopla? I'm serious, it's people like this that give conservatives a bad name. He didn't want a mere female to be getting kudos the big, bad military guys rightfully deserve. At least in his head cavity called a mind. Let HIS little two inch endowed self go through what Jessica went through then we'll talk. **

Some of those folks are right here on FR...unfortunately.

I'm so very thankful for PFC Lynch's rescue. SpecOps is amazing and well deserving of praise and respect. The lawyer who helped in her release, his wife and daughter, are safe at this point, given refugee status. God bless them all.

My heart goes out to the families of the MIA's (9) found at the hospital. May God give them peace in their time of sorrow and strength throughout the days. <><

[GOP_Proud]

I'm near Charleston. How about you?

[Sender]

My wife and I were the other two Republicans in West Virginia but strangely enough, we seemed to agree on most everything with our Democrat neighbors. I guess WV Dems are a lot more 'normal' than those New Englander and NY Dems.

[JoeSixPack1]

I would have to say the since Jessica Lynch is the first liberated POW during wartime since WW2, and is the first female POW since who knows when, Jessica Lynch will not have to worry too much about anything, including work, income, residence, recreation, happiness.

She is a gorgeous girl. That puts her in charge of who buys face time. She's a war hero/POW. That give her the key to any city, Disney or even White House.

I'm not speaking of gov't handouts. If Jessica Lynch needs something, I think I can name about 200 Million Americans that would empty their wallets so fast it would make Hollyweird movie makers cringe in fear.

Any hollyweirdo who plans to "tell her story" is doing so for purely capitalistic reasons. We know her story.

Freepers darn sure don't need hollyweird to spin a real life news happening. Especially a heartwrenching patriotic one!

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

The mental picture of U.S. soldiers digging up their comrades' bodies with their bare hands is beyond an ability to place into words.

It's obvious we don't need to search only past wars for true American heroes. They walk among us this very day and are just as heroic and every bit as humble.

[Fishtalk]

Rush didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't gruesome speculation; voyeuristic. This is a country of free speech and free thought. Everyone's wondering what happened to Jessica. We wouldn't be human beings if we didn't. The torture techniques of the Iraqi thugs are well known. Rush didn't state anything most of our forces and government didn't already know.

The military has handled Jessica admirably. They are not exploiting her though her story is probably the PR coup of this war so far. For her ordeal to be broadcast widely would shut up even the most bleeding heart of liberals. As it is, word is getting around. Hollywood and their lock step soccer mom liberals would be shut up forever as flyover country realizes the horrors Jessica endured. The Rachel Corries and Michael Moores of this world instantly become objects of derision, even by those who once supported their lunacy. Jessica Lynch puts a human and American face on the horror that is that Iraqi regime. The PR value is priceless.

This Jessica Lynch thing isn't going away. Her story will get out and yeah, there probably will be a movie.

She's a nineteen year old child for God's sake. Diaper companies and Ford shower women who give birth to multiple babies after taking artificial fertility pills. Why shouldn't a young woman who served her country and suffered so horribly get the same thing?

It's a shame to have to make this moral equivalency but just to put it into perspective.

[solzhenitsyn]

Peering from behind the sheet as he removed his helmet, she looked up and said, "I'm an American soldier, too."

Amen!

[Roscoe]

It would be nice if they would rename one of the bridges, stadiums, community centers, ect that Byrd has slapped his name on after Pfc. Lynch.

Excellent idea!

[eddie willers]

"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."

Better than Hamlet's soliloquy.

[Amore]

There ARE conservative filmmakers around. I know one personally.

[ZinGirl]

"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."

oh my God...I have tears in my eyes. I LOVE our military! God Bless 'em all!

[GOP_Proud]

< My wife and I were the other two Republicans in West Virginia but strangely enough, we seemed to agree on most everything with our Democrat neighbors. >

I describe WV Democrats the way I describe my late "yellow dog Democrat" grandfather. We could quiz him on every plank in the Republican platform (prayer in school-for, anti-abortion-for, anything for better education-for...you could go thru it all) and be in agreement for all of the core values of Republicans. Then we would ask him why he voted Democrat. His answer was always: because they support the common man. This has been ingrained in this state thru the years and it is very hard to defeat. We are making inroads. That's why I get along with my neighboring Democrats. They feel almost 100% the same as me...they just have this belief that the Dems are always watching out for the little guy. There have been some converts though.

[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.

[Catspaw]

You can do a lot of negotiating with a pretty, blonde, female American soldier as your hostage.

When did the negotiations take place? I must've missed it.

[Flyer]

"We are United States soldiers and we're here to protect you and take you home."