Jessica Lynch: American Survivor

Jessica Lynch was born in 1983 in West Virginia. Lynch joined in the U.S. Army as a means to pay for a college education. She entered basic training in September 2001 and trained for her Military Occupational Specialty as a unit-supply specialist.

On March 23, 2003 the 507th Maintenance Company, which Lynch was a supply-clerk, got off track and drove into enemy territory. Iraqi forces ambushed the convoy near Nasiriyah. Eleven American soldiers were killed and six including Lynch were captured. Lynch and the captured soldiers were reported as missing in action.

While in Iraqi custody Lynch was transported to a hospital in Nasiriyah for treatment of injuries. Events leading up to Lynch’s rescue are inconsistent. One report states an Iraqi lawyer named Mohammed Odeh al Rahaief tipped off U.S. forces as to Lynch’s whereabouts while other reports state the U.S. military learned of her whereabouts through doctors and or several informants that may or may not have include al Rahaief.

In April a U.S. security force of Army Rangers launched a successful nighttime raid on the Nasiriyah hospital rescuing Lynch and recovering the bodies of eight American soldiers. The Pentagon released a five-minute video of the rescue to during the initial press briefing.

Lynch recovered from her injuries at a hospital in Germany and was reunited at this time with her family. Among those who died in the attack was Private First Class Lori Ann Piestewa, Lynch’s best friend and the first woman in the U.S. Armed Forces to die in the Iraq War. She is also the first Native American woman to die in a combat zone while serving in the U.S. military. She was 23 years old. Piestewa and the other members posthumously received Purple Hearts.

Lynch returned to the U.S. and underwent more medical treatment and was given a medical honorable discharge in August of 2003. In November 2003 her authorized biography, “I am a Soldier Too: The Jessica Lynch Story,” by journalist Rick Bragg was released.

After her rescue the Pentagon disputed reports in the Washington Post of the events leading up to Lynch’s rescue and controversy ensued. Several months after her return Lynch began speaking publically about the attack and rescue. She portrayed herself as a survivor, not a hero.

In 2007 Lynch appeared and gave testimony before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Lynch testified she felt the military had spun her story for propaganda purposes.

In 2005, Lynch appeared on the ABC television show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” in which Lynch nominated and helped build a house for Lori Piestewa’s family.

Lynch and her boyfriend Wes Robinson welcomed a daughter named Dakota Ann in 2007. In March of 2008 U.S. News & World Report magazine interviewed Lynch in which she recalls her captivity and the media coverage controversy.