How is Pvt. Lynch a hero???

[Phatfish]

I don't know too much about what happened before she was in here wreck in the humvee but I do know when her hummer crashed she was knocked out while the others in her group fought in horrific circumstances. She was captured and put into a Iraqi hospital where she layed there until the cavalry rescued her. Admirably, she is now admiting on TV that she did not fire her weapon and that she does not deserve the attention. I applaud her for that but I have a major problem with her signing a book deal while those people who fought and were injured or killed get little to no attention to from our press and government. Am I off base?

edit:
I mispoke a bit on the 2nd to last sentence. please read post 15 of mine.

[alcuno]

1. It's not her fault that she was shamelessly promoted by the

Pentagon and our media. She's not to blame for signing a book deal but they are for ignoring the others.

[Phatfish]

6. yet

she signed the book deal! she went through with the book deal! I dont blame her for going thorugh with the book but I think she should have been telling the truth to the press since the day she was strong enough to be interviewed. I would be outraged if my government was spreading lies about what happened to me.

[oldcoot]

10. Good reasons to wait

Lynch may have decided to wait until she received her discharge papers before speaking candidly. She may not have wanted to do any thing that might interfere with getting an honorable discharge.

She also may have been concerned about her family members and fiancé who are still be in the military. I would not put it past the Bush administration to try to retaliate against Lynch by targeting members of her family. I recently read that one of her brothers may be sent to Iraq soon.

Although I am sure that she plans on keeping some of the money for herself, she also plans to establish a foundation to help the children of soldiers who were killed in action. If you want to read more about the foundation, see: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1003/25lynch.html . I am beginning to suspect that Lynch may really be one of the good guys.

[Endangered Specie]

2. well...

shes been saying lately that she is not the heroine the Bu$h admin has been trying to make it out to be. She is suggesting that she is tired of being a propaganda pawn, (although, she didnt mind to much the $$$ from the book deal and all, it is the american way though!). Implying that Bu$h and Co and DoD have been exageratting things (lying out ass).

[Atman]

3. She is a hero NOW

For eschewing GOP sainthood in favor of speaking the truth.

Bless her.

[frank frankly]

4. exactly, atman!

right-o and right-on!

[spooky3]

5. I agree. And she probably won't sell as many books.

She's not from a wealthy family and I'm sure they can use the money. The poor kid will probably need extra health care and therapy all her life. As long as her book tells the truth, she's entitled to every penny. I just wish others had the same opportunity.

[TexasMexican]

7. ...

PFC Miller and the others who actually got to fight back were more hero like than Lynch.

That being said I dont think Lynch did anything that is deserving of the scorn that some people are giving her. She was not attention whoring herself.

[quaker bill]

8. She put her life and health on the line.

That is sufficient for me. She is just one more apparently decent person abused by the Shrubya* misadministration.

[AmandaRuth]

9. she refused to be a pawn to the right wing

plus, if i remember correctly, she wants to be a grade school teacher. Will be a great teacher and role model.

[mw]

11. She's not. Neither is Scott O'Grady. He's actually despised...

Scott O'Grady is despised by real military pilots. O'Grady did everything WRONG, got shot down, and then did EVERYTHING WRONG AGAIN, all the way to running at the rescue helicopter (with a gun in hand I'm told).

O'Grady is the textbook case of what NOT to do when shot down. Yet he's a "hero", and on TV as an "expert", and the like.

I don't think that Jessica did so much wrong here. But agreed: she's no "hero".

[Corgigal]

12. The media wants her to be a hero

Pvt Lynch has nothing to do with it. She's a cute little thing, probably wears a size 3. She has blond hair and a pretty smile. She might have been raped by dark men and because of that she is now our victim. Have to protect her, what a sweetie.

The person doesn't enter into this media event, this is marketing.

[TrogL]

13. She's about as much as a hero

as people who walk away from plane crashes and are called "heroes".

She was in a crash.

She lay in a hospital.

Anybody can do that.

She's a hero for standing up to the lies being put forward by the Dubya administration, if she can keep it up.

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

14. So every injured soldier deserves a book deal?

She is a special case, and she is being honest. We sure as hell do not need 10,000 book deals.

[Phatfish]

15. i think you may have misread my original post

I don't think every soldier deserves a book deal and I don't blame her for taking a deal and reporting the truth in a book. What I do have a problem with is when all the publicity around the book is brought about by lies and the person who's book it is decides not to straighten out those lies until her book comes out and makes her money. I just wished she would have come out 2 weeks ago and said, "this is what happened to me.... this particular stuff that was reported about me is not true... II want to clear up and misleading, untrue rumors..."

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

16. Petty, to say the least.

That is the lamest take I have heard in a while. Wake up. She is speaking truth to lies in a worldwide forum. She is putting herself on the line.

Integrity is nothing to scoff at.

[leftofthedial]

17. she's a hero for standing up to the Bush Cabal

they wanted to paint her as something she wasn't, a war hero, and she stuck to the truth and refused to be their propaganda tool

That's what makes her a hero.

[alfredo]

18. She has resisted the urge to strangle someone. Heroic in my book.

[Isome]

21. I second that...

Anyone who speaks the truth, even when the lies are in their favor and being perpetuated by an all-powerful political machine... is heroic!

She's not even 21, but she's emotionally mature enough to recognize that what was done was wrong. She could have said nothing. Many young people in the military are easily cowed by people in positions power or authority, and would have gladly said nothing.

[Pastiche423]

19. The real hero?

[Don_G]

20. Lynch Was Promoted By The White House As A Hero

She was injured, treated, made medical arrangements with the Army and got out of the Army and from under Dimbo's thumb.

So she has been talking to the press and our media has taken weeks to get to the mainstream sources. Is that her fault?

No. The blame lies with the Rethuglican controlled media and the Powell controlled FCC which not only allows this to happen but condones blatent lies to further a political agenda, safrificing truth along the way.

If she wants to make a few bucks for telling the truth, it's okay with me.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

22. Point by point...

You said:

"I don't know too much about what happened before she was in here wreck in the humvee but I do know when her hummer crashed she was knocked out while the others in her group fought in horrific circumstances."

She was not knocked out...and we now have no clue when she passed out, if she ever did. She has recently stated that following the crash of her vehicle she attempted to fire her weapon which turned out to be jammed.

Then you stated:

"She was captured and put into a Iraqi hospital where she layed there until the cavalry rescued her."

The first part of your sentence is correct. Her "rescue" took place well AFTER the hospital had fallen into friendly hands.

And you went on to say:

"Admirably, she is now admiting on TV that she did not fire her weapon and that she does not deserve the attention."

As stated before, she didn't fire her weapon because it was jammed. But, she has stated more than once that she thought others in her group acted heroically.

And finally, you said:

"I applaud her for that but I have a major problem with her signing a book deal while those people who fought and were injured or killed get little to no attention to from our press and government. Am I off base?"

We don't have a clue what she was told about the others in her unit, and whether or not they would also get book deals. IMHO, the book deal was part of the program to elevate her status to that of a hero. If I had to guess, I would say that her parents authorized this book with a lot of help from the US Army. Additionally, for this book to be an "authorized" biography, she seems to have quite a few disgreements with the content of the book.

[gardenista]

23. OMG! That explains the CD I've been having!

CD= Cognitive Dissonance

Thank you, that would the piece of the puzzle that, for me, didn't fit. I'm talking about the book deal, and how that got brokered, and the content of the book vs. Lynch's own claims, now that she is speaking out on her own.

I think your take on this is very interesting. The book deal was only signed in early Sept., and I wonder if that was before or after her discharge. That little tidbit would be very interesting to know. I expect, however, that much of the background material was researched by the author before the deal was signed, and that maybe even some of the interviews with Lynch had already occured.

I have not been able to resolve the fact that the rape allegation is in the book, but she basically denies the rape, as do the Iraqi doctors. In this case, I believe the Iraqi doctors and Lynch, but have never been able to figure out how this got into an "authorized" bio without her approval or agreement. Your analysis sheds light on the possibility that the book deal sort of happened without her really understanding what she was dealing with. It certainly isn't the first time that an authorized bio can diverge from the story as told by the subject.

Interesting... Thanks. (And thanks for the rest of your thoughtful, reasoned post.)

[Cheswick2.0]

24. you would do the same thing

come off it already. The kid is telling the truth, what more could you want?

[Piperay]

25. Lynch is a hero because

she is refuting the lying claims of the Bush regime and the RW freaks and not allowing herself to be used for their warmongering aims. As far as I am concerned that makes her a hero, plenty of big strong men have refused out of fear to go against the bushies.

[GalleryGod]

26. She Just PROVED it: By TELLING the TRUTH!

Standing-up to the BFEE! Go little gal!

I recommend "People Magazine" April 14th,2003. TOTAL Friggin' FICTION!

Cover-Story on Private Jess!

Hang those Rumsfeld Spinners & Liars! Track 'em down and bury them in the sands outide Baghdad!

[adriennel]

27. respect

I gained respect for her because during her "real" interviews, she made a point to mention the soldiers who fought and died during the same incident. I wonder why we don't hear more about those soldiers in the media. Lynch seemed to realize their sacrifice even if the government that sent them to war does not.