War Coverage -
Saving Private Lynch
By Louise Carroll
The yellow ribbons that have adorned the small town of Palestine, West Virginia are ready to come down, and Private First Class Jessica Lynch, perhaps the most famous POW of the century, is ready to come home.
The 20 year-old Irish-American joined the U.S. Army prior to graduating from high school so that she could further her education and become a school teacher. She was working as a supply clerk in Operation Iraqi Freedom when her division, the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Support Company, was ambushed. The 15-member convoy was attacked by Iraqi forces on March 23, the first Sunday of the war, when their convoy made a wrong turn in southern Iraq. Nine U.S. soldiers were killed during the ambush.
After nine days as a POW, Lynch was rescued from Saddam Hospital in the city of Nassiriya by U.S. special forces on April 1. The mission would not have been possible were it not for an Iraqi lawyer who saw Lynch in the hospital and walked six miles out of town to tell U.S. army personnel where Lynch was being held. It was the first rescue of a U.S. POW from behind enemy lines since World War II. She was lucky to survive, and her fate proved a rare exception to that of her peers. Eight U.S. soldiers including her friend Lori Piestewa, the war’s first female casualty, were found dead in the hospital.
But Lynch was far from unscathed from her ordeal. Her injuries included two broken legs, a broken arm, a broken foot and ankle and a fractured disc in her lower back. It has been reported that some of her injuries were caused by gunshots, which went untreated during her captivity and led to infection. And other reports attribute these injuries to torture, although it has not been confirmed if she was tortured or how.
The Lynch family said: “Jesse’s recovery continues and she is doing well. She is in pain but in good spirits. Although she faces a lengthy rehabilitation, she is tough. We believe she will regain her strength soon.” Some of the
military personnel who met her after her rescue commented on how strong and tough she is, which shows how capable a woman can be who was also voted Wirt County Fair’s 2000 Miss Congeniality.
She is not the only person in her family in the military. Her brother Gregory Lynch Jr., 21 years old, is currently on emergency leave from the Army. A member of the National Guard based in Fort Bragg, N.C., he told reporters he had no hesitation about going to serve in Iraq if he is called. He added that since his sister was rescued, “All she’s been asking for is to go home.”
The Lynches trace their roots back to Co. Derry, where they left in the 1600s in one of the early waves of Presbyterian emigration. The family settled in Virginia soon after, according to the Irish Star newspaper.
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