I just don't get it.

[RVSinOK]

Just to clarify my point, I have absolutely nothing against Jessica Lynch, and in no way intended to belittle what she went through.

If she and Miller were in the same unit with the same training why did Miller simply do what was expected of him, but Jessica is a hero for being a victim. I think America needed a hero to get behind and this story simply sells.

This is exactly my point. While I don't for a minute question the fact that she went through a terrible ordeal, what I do object to is the fact that the media is making her out to be so much more a "hero" than all of the other soldiers that are doing the same or even more than she did, some even sacrificing their lives for our country.

That she is saying in her book that she didn't want all the attention, and doesn't think she is a "hero" is awesome, and I respect her a lot for that. The problem I have is that the media (and maybe even the Pentagon) took advantage of what she went through to make her a poster child for the war effort.

She did "what was expected of her", and no more. The fact that she got seriously injured alone doesn't make her a "hero" in my book. While nobody wants to see any soldier get hurt, that is a real possibility when we go to war, and everyone who signs up for the military knows that. Jessica Lynch knows that, and it sounds like she doesn't really want all of the attention that she is getting, because she knows she didn't do all that much out of the ordinary. How many other soldiers have been rescued from some sort of peril, but without the Pentagon video cameras rolling? That's all I am upset about - this was just a made-for-TV rescue to create a "hero" where there was just an ordinary soldier.

If I offended any of our current or ex-military members, I sincerely apologize....that was most definitely not my intent!

 

[Publicola]

I'm no fan of the M16 weapons platform in combat roles. I think they're great for target shooting & varmint hunting, but there are better designs to choose from.

That being said I do not find it unlikely that Pvt. Lynch pulled back the bolt to chamber a cartridge & at that point it jammed.

If you recall the military has been a little strange about firearms safety lately. In fact I heard that most troops just prior to the start of hostilities were walking around with empty rifles. No ammo was distributed until the war started.

Given that I can see Pvt. Lynch & the other to have been ordered to have no cartridges in the chamber of their weapons. So when the shooting started everyone had to chamber the first round right then. & as I've said I find it plausible that something causes Pvt. Lynch's M16 to jam upon the initial chambering.

What I do have problems with is that 1 jam stopped her from mounting her own defense. Perhaps she was just overcome & couldn't get it cleared in time to do her any good. But I would like to know exactly what her unit was taught concerning clearing malfunctions & what orders they were under concerning the upkeep, maintenence & condition of their weapons while on duty.

Whatever the case I hold no animousity towards Pvt. Lynch. What I feel for her is more sympathy than admiration. I wish it hadn't happened to her, or anyone else. & I also wish she had better equipment & training so that she perhaps wouldn't have gone through what she went through.

I do feel there were others in her unit that deserved the attention that has been thrust upon her, but as someone alluded to earlier the press likes victims better than heroes & often confuses the two. They'd much rather point to someone that was rescued than those who did the rescuing. It's the same thing that makes the victims of a school shooting front page news, but any armed civilians who stopped the same shooting rarely get mentioned at all.

But all this is just my speculation based on limited information. I haven't heard too much detail about Pvt. Lynch & her story so it's possible I'd feel slightly different if I had more facts.

 

[Sergeant Bob]

RSKING45

Didnt even fire a round,Sounds like she put other solders at risk by going to her knees to pray,she let everone around her down,does this warrent a medal--HELL NO and sure as hell not a book by a coward

Lynch suffered a head laceration and spinal injury, and both her legs and her right arm and foot were broken during her ordeal in Iraq. According to authorities, she cannot recall details from the time she was ambushed in Iraq to a point during her captivity there.

CNN.com
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• Her right arm was shattered between her shoulder and her elbow, and the compound fracture "shoved slivers of bone through muscles, nerves and skin."

• Her spine was fractured in two places.

• Her right foot was crushed.

• Her left leg was broken into pieces above and below the knee, "and splintered bone had made a mess of nerves and left her without feeling in that limb."

• The flesh along the hairline of her forehead was torn in a ragged, 4-inch line.

USA Today
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I think coward is an awfully strong word to use. She probably didn't go to her knees and pray, more likely fell to her knees. Do you think you could have done any better?