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Did a search to keep the "already posted" brigade happy.

more than half of the women deployed to Iraq are now pregnant

Does Hack offer any evidence to support this allegation? As for the medals, get over it. My father should have gotten a Purple Heart in WWII, but didn't. I've heard of guys in Vietnam who did nothing more than fall down drunk, and were given PHs. As posters have noted, thus has it ever been.

Please Sign This Petition to President George W. Bush on Women in Combat

And poor Jessica Lynch has become the unwitting poster girl for an Army of One that's fast becoming an Army of Two – since apparently more than half of the women deployed to Iraq are now pregnant.

The fairy tale of Jessica Lynch ignited patriotic glee in all of us. Too bad she's now just a pawn in a propaganda war. Who or whatever gets the most mileage out of a Jessica Lynch story wins.

My take - I hope Jessica gets all she can. I hope the brass a--holes that fabricated the stories and the awards get the ' screaming runs', perpetually.

Lynch's medal likely was awarded based on what she endured in the Iraqi "hospital." I came across some interesting statements in another forum discussing this topic made by Greg Walker, author of "At the Hurricane's Eye - U.S. Special Operations Forces from Vietnam to Desert Storm" as well as "SEAL!" and "Teammates" and several other titles, and a former editor-in-chief for a past special operations journel entitled "Behind the Lines". I have read these three books and magazine articles by Greg Walker and he is a top shelf military historian and writer.

QUOTE
Army rangers from two of the three ranger battalions in the Regiment seized and held the more important inner perimeter around what was now called "Objective Scorpion" where Lynch was confirmed to be. Navy SEALs from SEAL Team 6 executed the actual assault which was picture perfect due to the precise "U.S. eyes-on" and video information provided by known and vetted intelligence sources, both military and civilian, involved in the operation's planning. Upon the SEALs entering the hospital grounds two bodies were discovered laying in the hospital's courtyard. Four to six bodies were discovered in the hospital's morgue. The "hospital" was in fact a carnage factory in which its medical staff did what it was they were told to do, when they were told to do it, and how they were told to do it. This is why an Iraqi lawyer - not an Iraqi physician - played the vital role he did in seeing our POWs recovered from this site.

Lynch's injuries and suspected wounds were predicted and planned for in terms of initial medical attention (triage) based upon the earlier discovery of two of the missing US female soldiers' uniform items (Lynch's being some of these). These items were discovered by U.S. Marines during their operations in the city and were found in a second floor bathroom of a building the Marines had searched/cleared. The items, marked by their owners for personal identification purposes using heavy duty "100 mile and hour" tape, included Lynch's perforated and bloody body armor and the womens' damaged / cut away chemical protectives suits that they'd been wearing at the time of their capture. The primary physican for Task Force 20 personally cared for Lynch when she was brought aboard the specially designed and equipped medical evacuation helicopter belonging to Task Force 20.

The SEAL assault team was flown into the objective by Army Blackhawk helicopters owned and flown by the Night Stalkers of SOAR 160. This is the same unit and fliers who did such a magnificent job in Somalia ("Blackhawk Down"). The Marine air element described provided heavy transport for the ranger assault teams. The medical evac helo used to care for Lynch was likewise SOAR 160 owned and operated.

Specific Rules of Engagement were authorized at the National Command Authority for the operation and are so written, staffed, and approved for ALL U.S. POW recovery operations.

It was also Task Force 20 operators who were inbound and on the ground at Talil within hours the first sustainable information being recieved regarding our POWs. They formed the core of the planning process for the operation. This included an earlier investigated series of reports of American POWs possibly being held at a small girls' school on the outskirts of the city. Iraqi sources had reported the school being taken over by Iraqi irregular forces, and medical personnel from the nearby hospital being brought in to attend the injured Americans (Again, the Iraqi medical personnel did as they were told by Iraqi intelligence / security forces. Their efforts were self-serving to the nth degree leaving doing "the hard right" over the "easy wrong" to the average Iraqi citizen who provided information, and the specific Iraqi attorney who risked his life and the lives of his family to go far beyond his humanitarian duties on behalf of Lynch).

This was the first "hard" report and potential sighting of US POWs in the area and it became the lynch pin for the follow-on effort conducted by US forces to recover PVT Lynch and her fellow soldiers before they could be executed or moved further north into the Baghdad area.

These operations were buoyed by a days-earlier POW operation conducted by British forces in Basura to recover two captured UK soldiers. This operation was mounted within 48 hours of the soldiers' capture, with information leading the UK force to a disguised Iraqi command and control center (using a civilian structure to protect its true military purpose). One UK POW had already been mistreated and executed by his captors by the time Brit forces stormed the compound. The second UK POW was successfully rescued. Over 100 Iraqi opposition forces were killed in the raid. This operation occurred several days prior to the rescue of Lynch and provided an insight into how the Iraqi irregular and intelligence forces were going to deal with Coalition POWs unless they could be located and freed as soon as possible.

Upon her being successfully extracted from "Scorpion" Lynch was first taken to Talil Air Field then to an air base in Kuwait. She was flown by SOAR 160 pilots and crews, and guarded by Army/Navy SOF operators from Task Force 20. She was transported to a secure medical facility by Task Force 20 personnel waiting on the ground for her arrival in Kuwait.

The bodies of her fellow soldiers, mistreated and then executed by Iraqi irregular forces at the hospital, were dug up by hand by the operators of SEAL Team 6 from their shallow graves. They were then transported out of Objective Scorpion along with the raiders and inner security ranger teams left to protect SIX's operators as they searched for remaining living POWs, Iraqi high value targets (i.e. "Chemical Ali"), and any additional evidence of possible weapons of mass destruction (documents, ordinance) that may have been held in what was actually an Iraqi senior level command and control installation, to include torture chamber.

Hackworth is, as usual, right about this issue. Unfortunately, this is an Army-wide issue, not just an isolated injustice.

I just got back from Iraq about a week ago. Before we left, we had to go through the nutroll of writing, editing, submitting, and re-submitting awards. There was specific guidance given regarding what duty positions get what awards, when awards will be submitted by, who is responsible for writing awards for various soldiers. Everybody got an award. Whether the soldier deserved it or not, everybody got at least an ARCOM. Platoon Leaders and Platoon Sergeants got Bronze Stars. Company Commanders got Silver Stars. First Sergeants usually got Silver Stars. The only time merit ever reared it's head, if at all, was in the decision as to who got a "V" device.

How is it supposed to work? Anybody can recommend anybody for an award and there is a 2 year period in which it can be done, beginning at the time of the event meriting said award. Awards are supposed to be awarded on the basis of merit, not rank or duty position. Rank and duty position often carry with them greater responsibility, which often puts one in a situation where bravery can more likely be demonstrated, but rank and duty position are not inherently meritorious - especially if the person filling that position is not especially competent.

One other note - all soldiers in Iraq with an 11 series MOS got a Combat Infantryman's Badge, even those who did not arrive in country until, say, the period from early May through late July - even if they never went on a single mission outside of their compound and were in little, if any, danger whatsoever.

What does all of this mean? Awards are meaningless. Is this a big deal? No. The purpose of training for war and fighting wars is not to collect medals. If you want a chest full of medals, go become dictator of some backwards African nation. If you want to fight and win this nation's wars - join the US Army.