July 22, 2003
Jessica Lynch
Tuesday is Jessica Lynch Hype Day. Luckily, she got her medals at the hospital away from the media circus. Go home and rest, Jessie.
Former POW Jessica Lynch was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart in Washington Monday as she prepares for her homecoming. Lynch, who returns to the hills of West Virigina Tuesday, also received the Purple Heart and Prisoner of War medals at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. The Bronze Star is given for meritorious combat service, a Purple Heart is most often awarded to those wounded in combat, and the POW for being held captive during wartime."The Purple Heart ... was not necessarily about being wounded or injured in action initially, but that's what it has come to symbolize," said Lt. Gen. James B. Peake, the Army Surgeon General, in presenting the medals. "It's a special award and not one you choose to get."
via ABC News
ABC News and others have posted a leaked copy of the US Army's draft report on what happened to her convoy in Iraq. ABC's Nightline has also prepared its own take -- it's shorter reading.
Newsweek published an account with this chilling detail:
But the report avoids the details of the plight of Private Lynch, who’s still undergoing rehabilitation after suffering multiple broken bones and spinal and head injuries. She’s said she has no recollection of the event. The report seems to suggest Lynch was injured after her Humvee was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed into a truck in the convoy. The driver of the Humvee, Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, died of injuries she sustained, and two other occupants were killed under circumstances still under investigation, the report says.Posted by Alan at July 22, 2003 06:15 AMNEWSWEEK has learned, however, that U.S. military intelligence officers believe Lynch’s injuries were inflicted after she and other survivors surrendered. “This poor girl,” said one Special Forces captain involved in her rescue. He’s among three military intelligence sources who say she was standing when she surrendered, and had minor injuries at most. That was confirmed by Mehdi Kafaji, the Iraqi orthopedic surgeon who was in charge of her treatment at the hospital in An Nasiriya. “She had blunt-force trauma not consistent with what you’d expect from a car accident,” Kafaji says. He adds that there was no sign of bullet wounds on her body, and her injuries appeared to have been inflicted by a severe beating, probably with numerous rifle butts.
via MSNBC