Private Jessica Lynch freed by US Special Forces

OK, Now im confused..just seen US Army medical officer giving interview on her present status.

Hes stating there are no knife or stab wounds and no gunshot wounds.

There goes the media.

Who do we believe here?

 

I would think the medical officer would know. Especially if he is the one who did the check up.

I am thru believing news media at face value...This is the x-th "fact" that was retracted later on.

 

Sorry Stevin, I was trying to state what the spokesman said without trying to be sarcastic. I certainly believe the medics above the Washington post, which told us about her stabbings and her gunshot wounds and the terrific firefight she managed to put up...Im not wishing to belittle anyone, fog of war et al...but her broken arm, both broken legs and spinal injuries may have been caused after her capture...otherwise she could teach us a whole new mode of field craft on how to carry on fighting to the last bullet with those injuries if sustained before the firefight..again speculation, and there is enough of that too much going round and too many people believing the first stories we see as fact..Suppose though it sticks in the mind and we will be remembering the Washington post story in years to come and not the medics.

A white substance has just been found in some numbers as I write, wander what this will turn out to be..or what the journals will be telling us it is tomorrow morning. Dont often take a day off, and suppose Im wasting my time, but its educational to switch between news services and see the goings on...Son is doing media studies examinations, and is having a field day with this lot.

Suppose I better switch it off and go sunbathe..Brit weather...its April and it hot out there...

NY post says its an Iraqi trick...they are changing the weather and who am I to question them....

 

The Daily Telegraph of Friday April 4th says that Private Lynch held off determined attacks from Iraqi troops, "not wanting to be taken alive" until she had expended all her ammunition, despite severe gunshot wounds.
However, her supposed bravery was at this stage, just a rumour, and as such, she cannot yet be recommended for any bravery commendations, and since the battle zone had not been viewed by US Military personnel, it was impossible to tell whether or not in fact PFC Lynch had killed any Iraqis.
At this stage it would appear teh media wants to give her hero status without substantial evidence, so at this time PFC Lynch will be entitled to the Purple Heart only, as well as suitable Campaign Awards.

 

http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/apr2003/a040303d.html

Iraqi Family Risks It All To Save American POW

By U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Joseph R. Chenelly

MARINE COMBAT HEADQUARTERS, Iraq, April 3, 2003 ? New heroes have surfaced in the rescue of U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch.

Under the watchful eyes of more than 40 murderous gunmen, the 19-year-old supply clerk laid in Saddam Hussein Hospital suffering from at least one gunshot wound and several broken bones.

As her captors discussed amputating her leg, an Iraqi man leaned to her ear and whispered, "Don't worry." Lynch replied with a warm smile.

The man was already working with U.S. Marines to gain the critical information needed to rescue one of the first American prisoners of war in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Just a day earlier, the lawyer from An Nasiryah had walked 10 kilometers to inform American forces he knew where Lynch was being held.

The shocked Marines asked Mohammad to return to the hospital and note certain things. He was tasked with counting the guards and documenting the hospital's layout. Knowing the risk, he agreed to help the young woman he had seen only once.

"I came to the hospital to visit my wife," said the Iraqi man, whose wife is a nurse. "I could see much more security than normal."

The man, who, for his protection, will only be identified as Mohammad, asked one of the doctors about the increased security. "He told me there was a woman American soldier there."

Together, the two went to see her. Peering through the room's window, Mohammad saw a sight he claims will stay with him for a life. An Iraqi colonel slapped the soldier who had been captured after a fierce firefight, March 23. First with his palm, then with his backhand.

"My heart stopped," he said in a soft tone. "I knew then I must help her be saved. I decided I must go to tell the Americans."

Just days earlier, Mohammad saw a woman's body dragged through his neighborhood. He said "the animals" were punishing the woman for waving at a coalition helicopter. The brutal demonstration failed to deter him from going to the Marines.

The same day he first saw Lynch, he located a Marine checkpoint. Worried he'd be mistaken for an attacker in civilian clothes, he approached the Marines with his hands high above his head.

"[A Marine sentry] asked, 'What you want?'" Mohammad said. "I want to help you. I want to tell you important information - about Jessica!"

After talking with the Marines, he returned to the hospital to gather information.

"I went to see the security," he said. "I watched where they stood, where they sat, where they ate and when they slept."

While he observed Saddam's henchmen, the notorious regime death squad paid Mohammad's home an unexpected visit. His wife and 6-year-old daughter fled to nearby family. Many of his personal belongings, including his car, were seized.

"I am not worried for myself," he said. "Security in Iraq [that is still] loyal to Saddam will kill my wife. They will kill my [child]."

Meanwhile, Mohammad accompanied his friend into Lynch's tightly guarded room. She was covered up to her chin by a white blanket. Her head was bandaged. A wound on the right leg was in bad condition.

"The doctors wanted to cut her leg off," he said "My friend and I decided we would stop it."

Creating numerous diversions, they managed to delay the surgery long enough. "She would have died if they tried it."

Mohammad walked through battles in the city streets for two straight days to get to back to the hospital. His main mission was to watch the guards, but each morning he attempted to keep Lynch's spirits strong with a "good morning" in English.

He said she was brave throughout the ordeal.

When reporting back to the Marines on March 30, he brought five different maps he and his wife had made. He was able to point to the exact room the captured soldier was being held in. He also handed over the security layout, reaction plan and times that shift changes occurred.

He had counted 41 bad guys, and determined a helicopter could land on the hospital's roof. It was just the information the Marines needed.

American forces conducted a nighttime raid April 1. Lynch was safely rescued. She has since been transported to a medical facility in Germany.

Mohammad and his family are now in a secure location and have been granted refugee status. He doesn't feel safe in An Nasryah, but he hopes things will improve as the war against the regime advances.

"Iraq is not a safe place while Saddam Hussein is in power," Mohammad said. "He kills the Iraqi people whenever he wants. I believe the Americans will bring peace and security to the people of Iraq."

Mohammad's wife said she wants to volunteer to help injured or sick American forces in the future.

"America came here to help us," he said. "The Marines are brave men. They have been gentle with the Iraqi people. They are taking out Saddam Hussein. For that, we're grateful."

Mohammad's family hopes to meet Lynch in the future.

 

http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20030329-93763.shtml

Saturday, March 29, 2003

Wounded soldier says 8 from 507th were executed

Jim Conley
El Paso Times

ABC TV's Diane Sawyer interviewed an unidentified wounded soldier Friday morning who said he was "part of that convoy that got captured" where eight other soldiers "were executed."

The short interview on "Good Morning America" was on a medical evacuation flight and was an obvious referral to the Sunday ambush in Iraq of the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, where two soldiers were killed, five taken prisoner of war, eight missing and four wounded. Video of the five taken prisoner being interviewed by Iraqis has been shown on television.

Central Command officials in Doha, Qatar, told the El Paso Times late Friday that they still could not confirm what has happened to eight of the captured soldiers.

And the names of the wounded soldiers, with the exception of Spc. James Grubb -- whose wife spoke publicly Tuesday -- were not being released by the military.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20030404-96381.shtml

Friday, April 4, 2003

Reyes: 507th didn't make wrong turn

Sergio Bustos
Washington Bureau

Grubb back home

WASHINGTON -- Soldiers with the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss did not take a wrong turn in the early morning of March 23 when their convoy was ambushed by Iraqi soldiers near Nasiriyah, U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said Thursday.

Reyes, who spoke to three wounded soldiers, including two staff sergeants, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, said they told him they were ambushed on a bridge as they were attempting to catch up to a huge convoy of tanks and troops moving north to Baghdad. They had fallen behind because they had to repair several stalled vehicles.

The staff sergeants -- Tarik Jackson of Miami and Curtis P. Campbell of El Paso -- said they came under heavy gunfire as the unit attempted to cross a bridge.

The attack by Iraqi forces took place early in the morning, the soldiers told Reyes. They immediately grabbed M-16s, leaped off their vehicles and jumped through a hail of gunfire into a ditch beneath the bridge, Reyes said the soldiers told him.

They dragged several other soldiers, including Cpl. Damien Luten, who was shot in the leg, into the ditch, Reyes said.

The soldiers formed a perimeter around the bridge and fired back at the Iraqi soldiers for about an hour, long enough for nearby Marines to join them in the gunfight and drive away the Iraqis.

As a result of the firefight, two 507th soldiers were killed, four were wounded, five were taken prisoner and shown on international television, and seven remain missing. Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a supply clerk in the maintenance company, was rescued Tuesday by U.S. special operations forces. Nine Marines were killed, and eight are missing.

"The unit had gotten separated from the larger convoy going through Nasiriyah and were merely trying to rejoin the rest of the troops when they got ambushed," Reyes said. "They didn't make any kind of wrong turn."

Reyes said Jackson had gunshot wounds to the right shoulder, hip and right leg, while Campbell had a gunshot wound to the thigh.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2003/b04052003_bt202-03.html

April 5, 2003

DOD ANNOUNCES CHANGE IN ARMY CASUALTY STATUS

The Department of Defense announced today the changed status of eight soldiers from Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) to killed in action. The eight soldiers were in a convoy that was ambushed March 23 in Iraq. They are:

Sgt. George E. Buggs, 31, of Barnwell, S.C.

Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy, 38, of Cleveland, Ohio.

Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, of El Paso, Texas.

Spc. James M. Kiehl, 22, of Comfort, Texas.

Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, 35, of Amarillo, Texas.

Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, 23, of Tuba City, Ariz.

Pvt. Brandon U. Sloan, 19, of Cleveland, Ohio.

Sgt. Donald R. Walters, 33, of Kansas City, Mo.

Buggs was with the 3rd Division Support Battalion, Fort Stewart, Ga. The remainder were with the 507th Maintenance Company, Fort Bliss, Texas.

The incident remains under investigation.

[ 05. April 2003, 12:48 AM: Message edited by: Crapgame ]

 

Not to dismiss your quote at all Crapgame, but after the Jessca Lynch story, I think Ill wait for confirmation of the unknown scource given.

Nearly over now, lets hope all this can now get verified, although once the war is over I think we will find the stories may fade away.

Brits have ARRESTED an arab for implication in the death of 2 Brit soldiers. Thats going to be interesting.

 

And now this from CNN...

"During the process of examinations on her right arm and left leg, it was discovered [that] she had small-caliber, low-velocity entry and exit wounds," family spokesman Dan Little said.

Not found by medics in Germany?