Jessica Lynch.....

[Neutron]

So...

She assumed her fellow soldiers were dead, she concocted a fucked up story, now it turns out the others are alive. They say they fought some, realized they were outnumbered, so they dropped their arms and surrendered. Nowhere in their accounts do they mention the heroic Custer like stand of PFC (I'm a Liar) Lynch.
Additionally the other woman in the unit says she was treated decently by the Iraqis.
Seems like someone got caught in a lie.
What I want to know is, the Sergeant who has three bullet wounds isn't being paraded by his family as a hero...
Ah wait, stop wondering Tron, his heroics can be proven, why make a big deal out of it eh?

Hang her...

Tron

 

[avethibaltus]

Somebody should get court martialed for that fiasco with the 507th. They fucked up royally and suffered the consequences. Sad but true.

Although most of the mechanics I ever met were good people, they didn't become mechanics because the Green Berets wouldn't take them.

As for Ms. Lynch, I think that she told her family some "exaggerated untruths" not realizing how it would come out in the media.

They will all get medals for their actions and be paraded on stage with Curious George who is so proud of the military that he didn't have the balls to serve in, in contrast to all of those captured who didn't have the connections or political clout to keep them from getting put into combat.

***

Tron is a hero. A Navy hero but a hero nonetheless. 😉

 

[Neutron]

G.W. Is..

Actually a qualified fighter pilot, you don't get that without some balls.

Tron

 

[TKpervert]

Somebody should get court martialed for that fiasco with the 507th. They fucked up royally and suffered the consequences. Sad but true.

Gee, I wish war could be perfect, then we could have more of 'em cause nobody would get hurt.

Dammit. Is there a reason why war lacks perfection ??

 

[Neutron]

avethibaltus

LOL I did catch the little blurb at the end of your post. My youngest brother was in the Air Force at the same time my other younger brothere was in the Army and I was a squid. My father was a Marine. My elder brother was a pussy and never served. Anyways my brothers and I would arrange to take leave at the same time. Can you imagine the debates going on in my parents house??

By the way, I was in Spec Proj, I'm not sure if that's real Navy or not.

AS for heros, last year I got everyone teed off by pointing out the Emergency personnel in NYC on 9/11 weren't heros, I'm no more a hero than they are...

Tron

 

[Oddjob0226]

Last thing I read about her was that she was fighting with the flag over her shoulder, too. I'm serious.

Actually, I'm gald she's home and she was doing a job that I wouldn't want to do. I'm thankful for her service. She's getting such big notice becuase this was supposedly the 1st time since W.W.II or Korea that the U.S. military was able to go in & bring out POWs during a declared war. It was a great success.

But I'm still a jerk, too. Here goes! -

She went into the military not with particularly noble intentions of serving her country, but her parents made the choice to have more kids than they could financially afford to raise so she was stuck in pverty. The military was a way for her to earn money and get an education under the G.I. Bill. Lot's of people do this. I do things to get myslef out of my poverty, too, she just went for a guarenteed thing with a dreater potential risk, while I go for things that aren't so sure, but carry less monumental risk.

The other heroic people being left out are they guys who went in to get her. Same thing happened with Scott O'Grady in ...Bosnia? Saraevo - Can't remember now. He gets shot down and is a hero. The guys who successfully went into the enemy's territory are completely unknown. Several lives put at risk for the one "hero".


But the best part was how Jessica got captured - she took a wrong turn at al-Bha-kurquee !!!!!!

 

[aphrael]

how come they havent interviewed *her* about anything?

 

[Moses25]

Re: So much attention...

I think America always need an enemy (notice I did not say Americans), so why shouldn't they need heroes as well? It's in your culture...so much so that sometimes it seems that the American Dream, these days, is to achieve celebrity status.

As for Jessica Lynch, who cares? What does it have to do with you? There have been some arguments stated here that Americans are trying to focus on the good aspects of this war. I can appreciate that, but we will all have to wait and see if there are truly any "good aspects" to this invasion (did I say invasion? how silly of me).
Lowest common denominators dancing in the streets, thinking that they are now "liberated" notwithstanding...

A question however...if Jessica Lynch had been a 35 year old black man, would she have received the same amount of attention? Me mom tells me that she has already been offered lucrative book and movie deals. Is this correct? Hmph!!

Had it been a black man, would they even have gone in to get him?

Woooooooo!! I better run for the hills on that one, n'est-ce pas?

Ok, ok, I apologise for the above statement, but you get my meaning.

Cheers.😀

 

[Oddjob0226]

Re: Re: So much attention...

I think America always need an enemy (notice I did not say Americans), so why shouldn't they need heroes as well? It's in your culture...so much so that sometimes it seems that the American Dream, these days, is to achieve celebrity status.

I think you have a point, the U.S. (I think Western society in general, but esp. the U.S. has always been rather iconic in how ot catagorizes things, good and bad. As far as celebrites go, it used to be that people would willingly ogle a train wreck. Now days some people are willing to be the train wreck. In J. Lynch's case, people are are going out of their way to make her the train wreck while all se
he's doing is trying to recover and be home.

[/B][/QUOTE]A question however...if Jessica Lynch had been a 35 year old black man, would she have received the same amount of attention? [/B][/QUOTE]

I wondered this too, actually. I HOPE the answer is yes.

Still, the fact that she was a physically fit blonde 19 year old with a gun makes the imagination run wild.....bound....held prisoner... helpless... woo woo!


And you know who would make her story into a movie or t.v. show? The evil Hollywood people. And then people would become inspired and joined the military. So as usual both sides need one another & both are too.... I don't know, whatever, to aknowkledge that.

 

[QBWeaver]

I heard something about her yesterday on the news but I'm not sure how true it is. They said she was the first woman POW to be "rescued" since WWII. Many have been "freed" after the hostilities were over but not necessarily rescued.

And as far as her being interviewed... I heard one of her injuries, not necessarily a gun shot wound, was something with her mouth/jaw. I doubt they would have interiewed the civilian doctors in Kuwait on any service man or woman. They would wait until she was seen by a military doctor to give an update which they have.

When you see her on the TV she looks like she's hurting. I hear she can't stand up on her own yet and has had a few surgeries so far to repair a few breaks and the wounds.

I'm sure, in time, we'll hear, as Paul Harvey would say "The REST of the Story".

Part of this craziness with incorrect information is that we are witnessing history in the making. We have reporters embedded with the troops so we're seeing live action instead of pics or videos long after the task has done. The real time news lends itself easily to twists of the truth to enhance the story line.

But all in all.. the best darn liar of the bunch was Bagdad Bob, The Iraqi Information Minister. His misinformation and that he could present it with a straight face was absolutely amazing.

 

[Neutron]

I'll Tell You Why..

Because on May 16th 1988 I was stationed at the S1W Nuclear Reactor In Arco Idaho. At 2217 that evening an MMCS Kouzumano called me into the M Div Office and said "Bam Bam, over at A1W (another reactor) a sailor getting ready to inspect a shield tank fell in while prepping to do the inspection. He screamed for 10 minutes, for the last 20 no one has heard anything. They think he fell about 60 feet and bounced off something. It'll take about 2 days to cut through the tank, maybe 5 or 6 hours to attempt to rig a rescue harness. You're a big boy, what we want to know is if you'll volunteer to to go in after him now." I had no idea what the guys name was, just that he had two young kids. That's all it took. I went to A1W, climbed the ladder to the top of the tank, they gave me a map of the tank and where they believed he was. They also showed me the temporary ladder they'd dropped into the tank. It was pitch black, and because of my size I couldn't wear a safety harness and hope to be able to bring the guy out. They did cuff flashlights to my knees, pointing down, and it turned out these hurt like a bitch every time they bumped the ladder. A respirator was offered, but again, it would have been tough to get him out wearing the fucking thing. It took me ten minutes to reach him, the temperature was over 130 F, humidity maybe 95% or so. And in a high radiation area. I found him, he was alive, and could talk some. I informed him I was the rescue team, introduced myself as Bam Bam and told him I was gonna put him over my shoulders, strap him with a harness and try to carry him out. On the way up he screamed for the first ten minutes, the first 5 of which I was glad because it proved he was alive, the last 5 of which I just hoped he'd shut the fuck up. (I'm not proud of that by the way). It took me over 35 minutes to climb that 60 foot, swaying ladder but I got him out. The skin on my hands was worn raw, I had heat exhaustion and I couldn't breathe right for a month. I spent 3 days in the hospital afterwards, then when I got out I found out the Navy wanted to give me a fucking medal I did not want. And yes the guy lived.

So now, some dumbass gets lost in a desert, tells a fucking story that had no basis in fact, could give a fuck about her fellow soldiers, her parents mouth off all over the TV. AND THE US CONSIDERS THIS DUMBFUCK A FUCKING HERO??? BECAUSE OTHER BRAVE SOLDIERS RISKED THEIR ASS TO RESCUE HER?

That's my problem with the whole thing. Hang her.


Tron

 

[dodger]

I agree that the soldiers who went in and rescued her are the only heroes! All she did was be captured and wait. She didn't do anything special to stay alive. Had they wanted to kill her they would have. The soldiers who extracted her are the heroes, not her. And her mom and especially her dad are damn annoying to look at and listen to on TV. Is her dad Mickey Rooney? 😱

 

[Oddjob0226]

Well, I do have respect for Jessica Lynch - she volunteered to do something that I wouldn't want to do becuase I'm wimpy, self-centered and out of shape. Also, having a group of people trying to kill you would be intense at any age, but especially at the age of 19 coming from a small rural town....

but.....

Damn, Tron, THAT was amazing what you relayed! Now that's a story that should be heard. And I'm glad the other guy made it. Much admiration, Bam Bam.

 

[Moses25]

Bam Bam...?

Hmmm...I guess I could be coerced into being Barney Rubble fer a day...

Other than that, you seem bitter aboot the rescue that you were involved in, Tron, let alone Jessica Lynch's.

Cheers.😀

P.M.S. It's late; leave me alone.

 

[shark]

During this past week,Suzanne Smalley,a Newsweek reporter,was interviewed about this.

This version states that the soldiers were in a vehicle that actually broke down, the "wrong turn" theory being wrong.

Disputing earlier reports,there was actually a massive fight that one soldier described as being like Custer.The reason for the short fight was that the soldiers' weapons had jammed,due to sand contamination. One of the soldiers was reportedly loading his rifle one round at a time.

Doctors have verified wounds consistent with entry and exit wounds on Jessica Lynch.Nobody is going into details about the other injuries,except to say that they were extensive,with multiple fractures to legs,arms,back,and head injury.

I think much of the attention is due to the human interest factors:

Mohammed,hearing that Lynch's leg was to be amputated,took very big risks to help out.This was the reported reason for his actions.

A prisoner rescue,which is rarely successful.

The "female in combat" angle, political correctness and all.

As for further information,it's like QB stated.We'll have to wait to hear the rest of the story,as nobody is pushing the issue.The other soldiers were reportedly treated well,but were apparently in the hands of the regular Iraqi army,not the fedayeen,as was Lynch.It's a possibility that she was shot,taken to the hospital under fedayeen supervision,and hence became the subject of this story.

By the way, Neutron......WELL DONE.