Private Jessica Lynch freed by US Special Forces

Private Jessica Lynch was reported to have been rescued by US Special Forces today, after she had been taken captive last week, during an ambush on her outfit, the 507th Maintenance Company.
WHAT FANTATSIC NEWS!!!

 

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/01/sprj.irq.lynch.rescue/

POW rescued as Marines stage diversion; Lynch suffered serious gunshot wounds

Tuesday, April 1, 2003 Posted: 11:39 PM EST (0439 GMT)

NASIRIYA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a prisoner of war whose unit was ambushed near this city south of Baghdad March 23, was rescued from an Iraqi hospital early Wednesday, U.S. military officials announced.

Lynch, 19, who had been listed as missing, suffered multiple serious gunshot wounds in the ambush that led to her capture and went through "quite an ordeal," Pentagon sources said. She is in stable condition.

The sources said the rescue mission had been planned for several days and involved a joint special operations team backed by U.S. Marines.

They also were searching for Ali Hassan al Majeed, a cousin of Saddam Hussein known as "Chemical Ali," accused of masterminding gas attacks on Kurdish villages in 1988, one source said.

"There were other people [Iraqis] there we were interested in getting," a military source said, some of whom may have been captured.

Marines staged an offensive in Nasiriya as a diversion while Lynch was rescued from a hospital by a special operations unit, CNN Correspondent Jason Bellini reported from the scene. The hospital was described as a Fedayeen Saddam paramilitary stronghold.

U.S. forces knocked out the city's lights just before midnight. Shortly afterward, several explosions were heard near the hospital, said CNN Correspondent Alessio Vinci, who is with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and witnessed part of the operation.

Marine tanks and armored vehicles approached the hospital under the cover of darkness, he said.

The Americans encountered moderate resistance from inside the hospital and a nearby building, and Lynch was taken from the hospital in the first few minutes of the operation, Vinci said.

In the diversion, Marines attacked Saddam's paramilitaries in a block-by-block assault as Marine Harrier jets pounded hostile positions, targeting the headquarters of Saddam's Baath party, Bellini reported.

The paramilitary squad members sometimes dress in civilian clothing to hide in the city of Nasiriya, only to "come out of the woodwork" sporadically to attack the American troops, Bellini reported.

Bellini is accompanying the artillery component of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is part of the 1st MEF.

The orders for the rescue mission came from the head of the U.S. Central Command, one official said. The rescuers arrived by helicopter in early evening, secured the building by gunfire and forced their way inside.

"General [Tommy] Franks ordered this operation, and it was a success," said Jim Wilkinson, a Central Command spokesman.

"She's safe in coalition hands, and I'm sure she's happier than she was," he said. "America does not leave heroes behind, and there are other heroes we want to go get."

A relative told CNN from Lynch's hometown of Palestine, West Virginia, she was taken to a hospital in coalition controlled territory.

Lynch has already spoken with her parents, said Jean Offutt, a public affairs officer at Fort Bliss, Texas, where Lynch's unit, the Army's 507th Maintenance Company, was based.

"They're very happy to hear from her -- jubilant, joyful," Offutt said.

Bush: 'That's great'

President Bush was told at about 5 p.m. Tuesday that Lynch had been rescued and said, "That's great." An administration official declined to say whether Bush was told of the operation in advance.

Lynch, a supply clerk with the 507th, was listed as missing after an ambush by Iraqi forces near Nasiriya March 23 when unit members took a wrong turn after fighting near the city.

Two U.S. soldiers were known to have been killed in the ambush and five others were taken prisoners of war by Iraqi forces and later shown being questioned on Iraqi TV. Lynch was listed as one of the eight missing. That tally now stands at seven.

The official overall number of American POWs also stands at seven, including two Army Apache helicopter pilots captured after their craft went down in enemy territory.

Offutt said Lynch's rescue gave hope to the families of the other 507th members who were involved in the ambush.

"I think they've been encouraged by this," Offutt said. "I know they're not giving up hope and that they'll keep hoping that their loved ones will be coming back as well."

 

While this is great news, I also heard 11 bodies of what are thought to be US servicemen were found...

 

Yes two were found in the morgue in the hospital and nine were found in graves inside the compound. They were lead to the bodies by captured Iraqis.

Greg

 

The problem is that the coalition are not clear whether the bodies are coalition troops yet. I hope they are not. But still it is great news that Jessica Lynch has been rescued.

 

This is indeed great - not only did I feel for the POW, but the fact that it was a 19 year old and a female somehow made it even more sad in my mind. However, they also found some pretty strange things in there - a torture device and 5 bloodied uniforms with the names and flags ripped off. Once more info is gathered, I have a feeling the news will just get worse.

 

Yep, MSN has just reported this claim of torture...

SHE’S BEING TORTURED’
Separately, Sanders was approached by an English-speaking resident who said a female U.S. soldier was being held at the hospital.
“Please make sure the people in charge know that she’s being tortured,” the resident claimed.



Brooks said he had no information of torture. Lynch, of Palestine, W.Va., was to be flown later Wednesday to a U.S. military hospital in Germany.
Sanders reported that Lynch was originally held at another nearby hospital used by Iraqi forces and where Marines last week found a bloody uniform used by U.S. servicewomen. They had also found a room with a bed and large battery next to it, indicating to Marines that it had been used as a torture chamber.
Lynch’s rescue leaves 16 American soldiers, including another female, still listed as missing. Seven others, including one female, are known POWs in Iraqi hands. The Pentagon said Tuesday that 46 soldiers had been killed. Britain said 27 of its troops had died since the war started on March 20.

[ 02. April 2003, 10:47 AM: Message edited by: Doc Raider ]

 

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[ 27. March 2004, 04:37 PM: Message edited by: C.Evans ]

 

I fthey torutured a crippled shot female POW, they are just discusting.

 

Saving Private Lynch



US Army Brig. General Vincent Brooks (L), Deputy Director of Operations, CENTCOM, at the US Central Command, briefs the media at the As-Saliyah base, some 20kms south of Doha, on the progress of the US-led war on Iraq, as a Department of Defense Combat Camera video of US Army PFC Jessica Lynch (R),19, of the 507th Maintenance Company, is shown after she was rescued by U.S. Special Forces and removed from the Saddam Hospital in Nasiryiah. (AFP/Paul J. Richards)

 

It's good to hear that she was rescued.

Best regards/ Daniel

 

I've been reading this morning that she put up quite a fight. I think it said she was wounded by gunshots in both legs, and kept firing until she ran out of ammo. Then she was either stabbed or bayoneted, they aren't sure yet. The article said that she didn't want to be "taken alive"... Can't remember where I read it, but surely more info about this soldeir will be out soon.

 

Yup. I read the same thing. Especially being a woman, I think the unknown and maybe the worst fears is what kept her fighting. Good for her nonetheless.

 

The way I heared it she had 2 broken legs and a broken arm. As for the torture thing, well a civilian from a nearby town came forward saying that he had treated her injuries in the hospital (he was a pharmacist) and that she was not tortured, she kept crying because she missed home, her family and her boyfriend, other than that she was fine. If she put up as great a fight as you guys suggest I think she deserves an award though I am dubious about claims of torture as she talked to her parents on the phone and told them she was fine and hadn't been harmed (other than in combat). I find it funny that the papers imply that a pair of fatigues with blood on them are evidance of torture, I mean she was wounded in combat so 'if' they are hers they would have had blood on them anyhow. Anyhow, she seems to be well which is excellent and I just hope I am right.

 

I agree with your assessment Stefan. Cannot believe how dubious the media has been. Anything to get the ratings.

 

Just heard that a Belgian journalist - Rudi Vranckx - has a lot of problems to do his job. He is in the neighbourhood of Basra and the British are always disturbing him and so he cannot do his job.

Seems to me that the free press istn't free anymore. It makes me really angry.

 

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[ 27. March 2004, 04:38 PM: Message edited by: C.Evans ]

 

At least the purple heart anyway. Will be interesting to hear the interview with the Iraqi physcian who they also put on board the helicopter when they flew out.......

man I would hate to feel this kiddo's wrath once she becomes a school teacher..poor kids !

E

 

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[ 27. March 2004, 04:39 PM: Message edited by: C.Evans ]

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14879-2003Apr2.html

'She Was Fighting to the Death:' Details Emerging of W. Va. Soldier's Capture and Rescue

By Susan Schmidt and Vernon Loeb
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, April 3, 2003; Page A01

Pfc. Jessica Lynch, rescued Tuesday from an Iraqi hospital, fought fiercely and shot several enemy soldiers after Iraqi forces ambushed the Army's 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition, U.S. officials said yesterday.

Lynch, a 19-year-old supply clerk, continued firing at the Iraqis even after she sustained multiple gunshot wounds and watched several other soldiers in her unit die around her in fighting March 23, one official said. The ambush took place after a 507th convoy, supporting the advancing 3rd Infantry Division, took a wrong turn near the southern city of Nasiriyah.

"She was fighting to the death," the official said. "She did not want to be taken alive."

Lynch was also stabbed when Iraqi forces closed in on her position, the official said, noting that initial intelligence reports indicated that she had been stabbed to death. No official gave any indication yesterday, however, that Lynch's wounds had been life-threatening.

Several officials cautioned that the precise sequence of events is still being determined, and that further information will emerge as Lynch is debriefed. Reports thus far are based on battlefield intelligence, they said, which comes from monitored communications and from Iraqi sources in Nasiriyah whose reliability has yet to be assessed. Pentagon officials said they had heard "rumors" of Lynch's heroics but had no confirmation.

There was no immediate indication whether Lynch's fellow soldiers killed in the ambush were among the 11 bodies found by the Special Operations commandos who rescued Lynch at Saddam Hussein Hospital in Nasiriyah. U.S. officials said that at least some of the bodies are believed to be those of U.S. servicemen. Two were found in the hospital's morgue, and nine were found in shallow graves on the grounds outside.

Seven soldiers from the 507th are still listed as missing in action following the ambush. Five others, four men and a woman, were taken captive after the attack. Video footage of the five has been shown on Iraqi television, along with grisly pictures of at least four soldiers killed in the battle.

Lynch, of Palestine, W.Va., arrived yesterday at a U.S. military hospital in Germany. She was in "stable" condition, with broken arms and a broken leg in addition to the gunshot and stab wounds, sources said. Other sources said both legs and one arm were broken. Victoria Clarke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, gave no specifics of Lynch's condition, telling reporters only that she is "in good spirits and being treated for injuries."

But one military officer briefed on her condition said that while Lynch was conscious and able to communicate with the U.S. commandos who rescued her, "she was pretty messed up." Last night Lynch spoke by telephone with her parents, who said she was in good spirits, but hungry and in pain.

"Talk about spunk!" said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), whom military officials had briefed on the rescue. "She just persevered. It takes that and a tremendous faith that your country is going to come and get you."

One Army official said that it could be some time before Lynch is reunited with her family, since experience with those taken prisoner since the Vietnam War indicates that soldiers held in captivity need time to "decompress" and reflect on their ordeal with the help of medical professionals.

"It's real important to have decompression time before they get back with their families to assure them that they served their country honorably," the official said. "She'll meet with Survival, Escape, Resistance and Evasion psychologists. These are medical experts in dealing with this type of things."

At Central Command headquarters in Qatar, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks showed a brief night-vision video clip of commandos rushing Lynch, on a stretcher, to a Black Hawk helicopter. Later, television networks showed footage of her arriving in Germany.

One intriguing account of Lynch's captivity came from an unidentified Iraqi pharmacist at Saddam Hussein Hospital who told Sky News, a British network, that he had cared for her and heard her crying about wanting to be reunited with her family.

"She said every time, about wanting to go home," said the pharmacist, who was filmed at the hospital wearing a white medical coat over a black T-shirt. "She knew that the American Army and the British were on the other side of the [Euphrates] river in Nasiriyah city. . . . She said, 'Maybe this minute the American Army [will] come and get me.' " The only injuries the pharmacist said he was aware of were to Lynch's leg, but there was no way to evaluate his statement.

Lynch's rescue at midnight local time Tuesday was a classic Special Operations raid, with U.S. commandos in Black Hawk helicopters engaging Iraqi forces on their way in and out of the medical compound, defense officials said.

Acting on information from CIA operatives, they said, a Special Operations force of Navy SEALs, Army Rangers and Air Force combat controllers touched down in blacked-out conditions. An AC-130 gunship, able to fire 1,800 rounds a minute from its 25mm cannon, circled overhead, as did a reconnaissance aircraft providing video imagery of the operation as it unfolded.

"There was shooting going in, there was some shooting going out," said one military officer briefed on the operation. "It was not intensive. There was no shooting in the building, but it was hairy, because no one knew what to expect. When they got inside, I don't think there was any resistance. It was fairly abandoned."

Meanwhile, U.S. Marines advanced in Nasiriyah to divert whatever Iraqi forces might still have been in the area.

The officer said that Special Operations forces found what looked like a "prototype" Iraqi torture chamber in the hospital's basement, with batteries and metal prods.

Briefing reporters at Central Command headquarters, Brooks said the hospital apparently was being used as a military command post. Commandos whisked Lynch to the Black Hawk helicopter that had landed inside the hospital compound, he said, while others remained behind to clear the hospital.

The announcement of the raid was delayed for more than an hour because some U.S. troops were on the ground longer than anticipated, Brooks said. "We wanted to preserve the safety of the forces," he said.

Correspondent Alan Sipress in Qatar and staff writer Dana Priest contributed to this report.

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http://msnbc.com/news/889604.asp?0sl=-32&cp1=1

Saved POW's kin say she wasn't shot

NBC, MSNBC and news services

The father of rescued POW Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch said Thursday that she was in great spirits following her first surgery and denied reports she had been shot and stabbed during her captivity in Iraq.

"WE HAVE HEARD and seen reports that she had multiple gunshot wounds and a knife stabbing. The doctor has not seen any of this," Gregory Lynch Sr. said.

Lynch said his 19-year-old daughter, who is at a military hospital in Germany, had surgery on her back.

"She didn't have any feeling in her feet," he said outside the family's home in this West Virginia hamlet. More surgery was scheduled for Friday on her fractured legs and arm, he said.

The family spent several hours with Pentagon representatives discussing her ordeal in Iraq. They hoped to learn why the 507th Maintenance Company convoy made a wrong turn in southern Iraq on March 23 and was attacked.

But Gregory Lynch said he had not discussed details of his daughter's captivity during telephone conversations with her. He and his wife, Deardra, did not immediately elaborate on what they discussed with military officials.

The Pentagon has said little about Lynch's captivity, saying details will be provided at the appropriate time.

'SHE'S A FIGHTER'

The couple also said they could not confirm a report in the Washington Post indicating that their daughter "fought to the death" during the ambush but ran out of ammunition and was captured.

"We don't know if that's true," said Deardra Lynch, "... but that does sound like something my daughter would do, because she's a fighter. She doesn't give up."

Seven soldiers remained missing Thursday, five were listed as prisoners of war and two others were confirmed killed. The military has said that some of the 11 corpses found in and near the Nasiriyah hospital after Lynch's rescue are those of U.S. troops.

U.S. officials, who spoke with NBC News early Thursday, said nine of the bodies are those of U.S. troops and that most are believed to be from the 507th Maintenance Company.

The other two bodies appeared to be Iraqis and were being turned over to hospital officials in Nasiriyah, the officials said.

In Iraqi television report after the ambush of the unit, five POWs and the bodies of what appeared to be several U.S. soldiers were shown on Iraqi television. At the time, Pentagon officials charged the dead soldiers had been executed, which Iraq denied.

The U.S. officials who spoke with NBC News said they had no additional information on the five other POWs.

Lynch, 19, was rescued by U.S. special operations forces who slipped behind enemy lines and seized her from the Saddam Hospital in Nasiriyah on Tuesday night.

Brig. Gen. Vince Brooks said U.S. forces engaged in a firefight on the way into and out of the hospital, but there were no coalition casualties. Ammunition, mortars, maps and a terrain model were found at the hospital, he said, along with "other things that made it very clear it was being used as a military command post."

The commando raid included Air Force pilots, Marines, Navy SEALS, Army Rangers -- "loyal to the creed they know that they never leave a fallen comrade," Brooks said.

RESIDENT MADE TORTURE CLAIMS

NBC's Kerry Sanders was told by a Nasiriyah resident that Lynch was tortured during her captivity, but Brooks said he had no information of torture and Pentagon sources later told NBC News that there was no apparent evidence Lynch had been tortured.

Sanders reported that Lynch was originally held at another nearby hospital used by Iraqi forces and where Marines last week found a bloody uniform used by U.S. servicewomen. They had also found a room with a bed and large battery next to it, indicating to Marines that it had been used as a torture chamber.

Lynch's rescue leaves 15 American soldiers, including another woman, still listed as missing. Seven others, including one woman, are known POWs in Iraqi hands. Two of the POWs are pilots whose helicopter crashed after a raid south of Baghdad.

RELIEF AT HOME

Relatives and friends said Lynch, a supply clerk who turns 20 later this month, joined the Army to get an education and follow her dream of becoming a teacher. Her older brother, Gregory, is also an Army soldier.

Jim Miklaszewski and Tammy Kupperman in Washington; David Shuster in Doha, Qatar; and

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

[ 03. April 2003, 11:29 PM: Message edited by: Crapgame ]