April 03, 2003

Rescued POW reportedly waged a fierce gun battle to keep from being taken alive

Spirited but hungry, rescued prisoner of war Pfc. Jessica Lynch arrived in Germany for treatment of two broken legs and bullet wounds reportedly suffered in a fierce gun battle she waged against her Iraqi captors.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that the 19-year-old Army supply clerk shot several Iraqi soldiers during the March 23 ambush that resulted in her capture. She kept firing even after she had several gunshot wounds, finally running out of ammunition, the newspaper said, citing unidentified U.S. officials.

'She was fighting to the death,'' the Post quoted an official as saying. ''She did not want to be taken alive.''
[...]
From Germany, she spoke with her family at their home in Palestine, W.Va., in a 15-minute telephone call.

''She's real spirited. She hasn't eaten in eight days and she's hungry,'' said her father, Greg Lynch. ''She wants some food.''

Randy Coleman, a military spokesman in West Virginia, said Lynch had fractures in both legs, and her family said she also injured her arm. U.S. officials in Kuwait said earlier she had two broken legs, a broken arm and at least one gunshot wound.

According to the Post account, she was also stabbed when Iraqi forces closed in on her.
[...]
To help Lynch reach her goal of becoming a kindergarten teacher, West Virginia and Marshall universities and Liberty College in Lynchburg, Va., offered her competing packages Wednesday.

And West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise said the state would finance Lynch's education at a state public college or university of her choosing.

''She wants to become a teacher, and we are going to see that she becomes one,'' he said after visiting the Lynch family at home.

Betcha First Lady Laura Bush gets involved, too.
A school teacher herself and the national spokesperson for teaching, this will be music to her ears!

God bless Private Jessica and help her recover.
She has really been through a long, awful ordeal and will be recuperating for a long, long time.
But she is something else and I'm sure she will be able to marshall that fighting spirit to get back on her feet someday soon.
I wish her only happiness in her life from now on, because she's darn well earned it.
And speaking of earning things, I think she should get at least one Medal for Bravery, if not several.
Private First Class Lynch, you give new meaning to the term "Bellicose Woman!"
You GO, girlfriend!