PFC Lynch

[gridlore]

Jessica Lynch came home today, and somehow her welcome really irked me.

She was flown into her home town in a UH-60 Blackhawk. Probably one of the few times she's ever flown in one. She was greeted by a mob of well wishers, holding her picture and calling her a hero. This is where I have a problem.

From al the information we have, PFC Jessica Lynch was riding in a 2.5 ton truck when it was hit by a RPG. There is no proof she fired back. In fact, with her injuries, I doubt she could even load the damn thing. She was captured, and taken to a hospital. There, she was treated well, and rescued by American forces.

She is due the Purple Heart and the POW medal.

I see nothing in this story that makes her a hero. In fact, the entire event is a massive example of things going wrong! The convoy got lost, rolled into an ambush, and was destroyed. All PFC Lynch did was ride in a truck. And if my memories of being an E-3 is any guide, she was probably sound asleep when she was attacked.

No one is questioning her dedication to duty, or her conduct while a captive, but she is hardly a hero.

Comments

[lysana.livejournal.com]

And this doesn't even touch on how her "rescuers" went in there with guns loaded with blanks.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Sorry, but that story is a comple fabrication. I used to practise just that sort of mission. It doesn't matter if you have intelligence saying the Iraqi Army has pulled out, you go in hot.

[lysana.livejournal.com]

You might wish to peruse this set of Google results, especially since you just accused the BBC of lying:

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Jessica+Lynch%22+%2BIraq+%2Bblanks&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

There are many questions surrounding Pfc. Lynch's "rescue" which I dearly wish would be answered. Until then, I doubt she was a POW in anything other than the technical sense of the word.

[(Anonymous)]

He didn't accuse the BBC of lying. More like accusing them of being gullible in believing the Iraqi doctor who claims there were only blanks used. You don't know what a "blank adaptor" is, do you?

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

I've avoided the conspiracy theories surrounding this, but the Bush team has been giving it more hype than I can stomache.

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

In my opinion, humble as it is, she is a hero, if for nothing else than having served. I don't care if she didn't charge the enemy with an M-60 in her hands and a knife in her teeth. And she probably had no more input in the circus her homecoming was than in the direction her convoy took. I think she is a hero because she served.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

I agree, but you've seen the hype. People are acting like she's the reincarnation on Audie Murphy. She's not. She's a soldier who got caught in an amush, spent a few weeks in captivity, and was rescued.

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

Alas, all too true.

[tzimiel.livejournal.com]

From what little I've seen/heard from Pfc. Lynch herself, I suspect she would agree with you. I imagine she will spend the rest of her enlistment being terribly embarassed (and possibly very angry) at being used in this way.

I'm proud that she served. She, and other women like her, are good things for my daughter to see. I'm very glad she made it back. But I really wish this administration would leave her the hell alone...

[aurictech.livejournal.com]

What steams me are the reports that I've read in the media that many of the soldiers' weapons jammed.

What the Hell were the NCOs in that unit doing? Apparently not their jobs....