Jessica Lynch.....

[red indian]

......with all due respect to what she has been through, what is all the fuss about??? why is her plight worthy of such special media attention?? why is this one soldier being focused on to such a degree??? this kind of biased coverage is just not happening in the U.K. Over here all soldiers have been treated on the same level, as far as the media has been concerned. I just do not understand this, obesession with one person, can any one explain this to me???

 

[Limeoutsider]

Who is she? 😕

 

[Neutron]

No Idea..

Especially since the only reason she was caught is because she fucked up, and most of her story is a lie anyways...

Tron

 

[TheRhythmDoctor]

Lime,

19 year-old Private First-Class Jessica Lynch (US Army) was a P.O.W. during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was recently rescued by U.S. Special Forces when an Iraqi lawyer tipped them off as to where she was being kept by Saddam Hussein's forces (in a nearby hospital). She has been spending the last week or so recovering from severe injuries (two broken legs, broken arm, gunshot wounds) and has had spinal surgery at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. Today, she came home with her family (who flew out to Germany to see her).

Hope this helps answer your question.

RD

 

[TicklingDuo]

To try to answer the question you asked, Red...

I think the reason there's so much focus on her is that they want people to focus on the positives rather than on the deaths and problems. The more they keep people thinking about her, the less they'll think about the rest. While we DO need to see the positives, they need to show things a bit more equally. The gov't complains that the people here aren't being realistic. When they play head games like this, it's rather difficult to keep reality in mind. Bottom line is...politics as usual.

Ann

 

[Limeoutsider]

I don't watch the news. How did she get captured? Or did they not say?

 

[TicklingDuo]

She was part of a convoy that took a wrong turn and ended up being fired upon. Several of those with her were killed. The rumors about what took place and her medical condition now have been reported as fact though nobody really knew what was going on. So, now, nobody knows what actually did or didn't happen.

Ann

 

[Dave2112]

I think the reason so many have followed this particular story is a general need for positive stories in times of horror. Also, there's a certain empathy involved for those who are fighting for our ideals.

It's basically just a good story that people like to relate to. It's not often that an entire regiment gets ambushed and the sole survivor is a 19-year-old girl, one not exactly as trained in combat as the regular infantry. Yes, all soldiers go through basic and any that are going to war aren't exactly helpless...but you expect that kind of survival instinct and chutzpah out of trained and ready combat trops, not usually girls in maintenance outfits.

I think that people identify with Ms. Lynch as thier daughter or sister...the innocence of our society in the face of evil. That sort of thing. The story gains more intrigue when we learn of the risk that a civilian Iraqi took in helping to free her.

 

[Dave2112]

Update: I guess she wasn't the only survivor of her regiment as breaking news reports that other missing members of the ambushed unti have been found.

Thank God that we have people to shed light on this horrible lie, though. We can most certainly do without any good stories coming out of this, as we must focus on every possible angle of what's going wrong so that we can say we are not fooled by this propaganda. It's true, all of the military doctors treating her lied about the bullet wounds and broken bones. In a time of war, the government decided to waste airtime and resources on not only fabricating a story but keeping it rolling as well.

As far as stories being reported "as fact", they never were. It was said time and time again (and still is) that all of the facts weren't known. Do you need to know every gory detail before you'll possible accept something? Do we really need to make a conspiracy theory out of everything? I'm only glad that her family and friends are most likely not members here, as this would make them sicker than it's making me.

 

[Neutron]

Yeah..

Like her statemen that she fought to the last bullet...
What else did she do, bring down an Iraqi Jet with a rock?
Fend off a tank with a stick?

Bunch of lies...


Tron

 

[AffectionateDan]

Re: Yeah..

Like her statemen that she fought to the last bullet...
What else did she do, bring down an Iraqi Jet with a rock?
Fend off a tank with a stick?

Bunch of lies...


Tron

Spoken like a true hero. Any of you ladies fancy getting captured by those animals, bearing in mind how they look on females as third-class citizens? I'd have fought to the last damned bullet, too, had I been in her place, and probably made them kill me before I'd allow myself to be taken. I don't know HOW that particular fight went down, seeing as I wasn't even there. But far be it from me to comment on things I knew little or nothing about. You say in your sig, Tron, that mean people suck. Have you ever served? Pretty mean, IMHO, to offer up any comments like these with no experience to base them on. Did this woman offend you somehow?

 

[Neutron]

Interesting...

She claims to have fought to the last bullet... Yet there's no one alive to corroborate that.

6 years US Navy..

4 Battle E Awards
Sailor of the Year NPTU idaho Falls
3 Navy Achievment Medals
Cited For Bravery Once when I went into a shield tank to pull out a sailor who had fallen in and broke his back.
3 Presidential Unit Commendations
3 Naval Unit Commendations
Local Unit Commendation for quick action above and beyond the call duty when I put out an oil fire at a nuke training facility prior to it getting bad enough it would have endangered others in a different compartment.
Over 100 Submarine Dives
Qualified Submarine Warfare, Engineering Officer Of The Watch, Engineering Watch Supervisor
Navy Diver

and a few things that are still classified...

So yes I've served and MY stuff is a matter of public record. Well except the classified stuff and you can get the gist of that from Blind Mans Bluff

Her story is a fabrication, NOTE the military won't confirm anything but her injuries. The rest is a fabrication from her and her family.


Tron

 

[TicklingDuo]

Tron, while I understand where you're coming from, I thought I'd mention a couple of things.

1) We haven't heard anything from her mouth. All we've heard are reports that she (and others) have said certain things. So, I plan to wait until they interview her live and I hear her own story from her own mouth.

2) If she DID make that statement AND it proves false, I wonder if it's possible that lying in a hospital bed in pain for two weeks led her to thinking of what she SHOULD have done...wished she'd done...how ever you want to look at it. Being on pain killers and still in pain and scared makes people say some strange things. I've taken care of patients who dream up all sorts of stuff.

Before we pass judgment, I prefer to wait and see what she has to say herself, rather than criticizing her for things she may not even have said. Remember, these same reporters claimed that she'd been shot several times...only for us to learn later that she didn't have a single bullet wound. One of the first casualties of war is always the truth. So, let's not argue about it until we know what SHE has to say.

Ann

 

[Neutron]

Since Her Parents...

Said it more than once in a press conference, I have to believe they heard it from her mouth. Again, the military is strangely silent on her heroism fighting off an Iraqi Platoon until her last bullet. That's bullshit. And yes if it were a male I'd be saying the same thing. In times like these, if her story were true the military would be crowing over the bravery of our troops. I've been in the military, I know how they react to stuff like this.

As a decorated veteran I'm insulted at the attention this liar gets. I do acknowledge whatever she endured after her capture (if anything) might have been out of whatever we call civilized bounds, BUT until that point I must continue thinking she fabricated a story because she someone fucked something up and got friendly troops killed. If so, hang her.


Tron

 

[Marauder]

Congrats on reaching Red Feather, Neutron! 😀

Oh, and stop trolling.

 

[Neutron]

I'm Not Trolling....

In the least, trolling is posting to cause trouble. I seriously am offended at the big deal the media and people of the Us have made of this lying sack of shit.


By the way it wasn't the military who said she had broken bones and bullet wounds, it was her family and the media...


Tron

 

[TicklingDuo]

Re: Since Her Parents...

Said it more than once in a press conference, I have to believe they heard it from her mouth.

Ya know what they say about assumptions. Right, bubblehead? I may end up being proved wrong on this. Or, you may be. But, I could have sworn that they'd said that this is what they'd been told before they were able to talk to her. Time will tell.

I understand your anger at the thought that someone would claim credit not due. My baby brother (who threw himself down the stairs after being persued for going AWOL at the beginning of GW1) is just such a person and I don't believe has the right to go around telling people that he served during the first gulf war. He didn't.

Ann

 

[Marauder]

I understand your disgust at media hypes, but calling for her hanging is maybe a bit extreme, don't you think? Especially before any facts are known for sure?

 

[Limeoutsider]

Is it possible that her parents are "stage parents"? Makes sense. Her parents see that shes injured, want her to not look weak, or inferior? They fabricate a story that makes her look good AND draws attention to her (and them)...could explain why the military is hush hush about it?

 

[red indian]

OUCH!!!!!.......poor old AffectionateDan......

.......sorry Buddy but you walked in to an ambush!! consider yourself to have been "Tronnied" good and proper! dont mess with him on this kind of topic, he knows his business.

To go back to the subject of the thread, I have no opinion one way or the other regarding the details of Private Lynch,s ordeal, for all I know or care she may have surrendered with out a fight, or she may have "fought to the last bullet" thats not the point of my question, the point is why had she been singled out from all the other injured American personel who have been repatriated in the last few weeks, and who remain totally anonymous as far as the media is concerned?

ps Thanks for your remarks Tronny regarding my personal loss, I have now been given the task of delivering the eulogy, as well as musical director of the massed band at the funeral, I just hope i am up to the job.

 

[Dave2112]

Funny, I remember interviews with those actually over there and involved in this that doctors that worked on her (both there and in the German hospital) stated that she had bullet wounds. I guess they should be hanged for "lying" too.

If you were surrounded by an ambush party, wouldn't you go through a lot of ammo, too? Why is it so hard to believe that a soldier would defend herself? Becuase you weren't there to see it?

Oh, that's right, we only take things on faith when it involves people we know. That's a lot of commendations, Tron. Care to prove it? I mean, we weren't there, how can we know, right? We have only the word of a former soldier to go on...and by your very arguement, we can no longer take the word of an American soldier at face value. Or does that now only apply to Ms. Lynch, becoming an arguement of convenience?

Don't get me wrong...I take your claims at face value, because I can't believe an American serviceman would lie about those things. Perhaps I'm the only one willing to give the benefit of the doubt. Too bad someone who actually was a fellow serviceman isn't capable of doing what he asks of others.

 

[Neutron]

Simple...

Within a day of her being found the stories were going out, promoted by her idiot parents.
Had it been me, you'd have heard nothing, I'd have said mind your own business.
I find it odd the stories went completely away when she was examined by a military doctor. The first doctors to examine her were not military. She didn't get examined by a military doctor until they transferred her out.

So far as her story, no I do not believe it. Again it's way too unprovable and I might remind everyone, in the military one cannot get an award unless someone recommends you for it. Her parents and her hoped if they started the story early she'd get some sort of commendation, wanna bet? Just like that Smart girl in Utah.

As for my military record.. Send me an address Dave, I'll be glad to provide you a copy, unlike the urban legend this family tried to get away with, I can back up what I say...

red indian, eulogies are tough... I had to eulogize both my parents and my older sister. I know it's tough to come up with words that won't choke in your throat. I couldn't imagine being the musical director too... I saw how your friend died, I hope his death serves as a lesson to others... I will say this, sometimes talent comes at a heavy price...


Tron

 

[TKpervert]

I'll go with Ann on this one, there's too much conjecture flying around right now, and with more time the story will straighten itself out.

None of us were there, so we're all forming our opinions with what we receive (perceive ?) from the media.

Tron has a point in that it's hard to visualize a 19 year old female supply clerk emulating Rambo and mowing down enemy troops by the score, running out of ammo, fixing bayonet and charging into the fray.
Didn't happen.

My imagination tells me she may have popped off a round or two, saw those around her dropping their weapons, saying "Oh shit here we go", then going with the program (surrender and hope for the best).

Original question: why the fuss over PFC Lynch ?

journalistic pressure to produce a good story.
editorial decision to give the story 'big billing'.

Whatever, I'm happy that Jessica is alive and well. That's what counts.

 

[TKpervert]

another thought

Jessica owes her wellbeing to a well-designed, well-executed Iraq battle plan, U.S. military technology, U.S. military training,
and the bravery and ability of her fellow soldiers (all of the various U.S. military branches).

Why, you ask ??

She didn't languish as a POW for years as many did in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. She languished for 10 days.

Why, you ask ??

Because her fellow soldiers were there when she needed them, had the ABILITY to be there because the plan was on-or-ahead-of-schedule,
and had the training and the guts (and the caring) to effect the rescue.

makes me proud.

 

[Dave2112]

First off, Tron...you don't have to send me proof of your commendations. That's the point. I take your word.

I don't believe every bit of the story that has come out about it, not until it comes to light. I did, however, want to clear up the rumor that she was lying about her injuries. US medics and US/German surgeons all verified the prescence of bullet wounds, broken bones and other injuries.

As far as her charging into battle "Rambo-style" as you put it, I don't think anyone's claiming that. I can see her going through a shitload of ammo, though. That's not neccessarily a military training point, just a human survival point. I can see someone faced with what she was faced with just trying to survive by any means available. She wasn't trained for that sort of thing, like the Marines in combat are. That's the point. I'm sure the combat Marines and Army would have handled it differently and better...but she was neither. Keep shooting 'til you run out of ammo, that's what I would've done. With all the stories of what they do to female prisoners, even if they aren't all true they still play in the mind under duress, I'm sure a 19-year-old blonde American girl would have done whatever it took to avoid capture. Not really out of planned heroics, but at least personal survival. Can it be proven? Probably not. But is it a viable scenario? I can see it. That's all.

The real point is that I'm glad to see her, and ALL POW's, home safe. Come home alive, isn't that what we wish for our sons and daughters when they go to war?

Again, Tron, I wasn't asking you to prove the veracity of your claims...I was simply making a point that you shouldn't need to.