U.S. Troops Rescue Iraq POW Lynch

By

Posted 9:14PM on Tuesday, April 1, 2003

WASHINGTON - American troops on Tuesday rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who had been held as a prisoner of war in Iraq since she and other members of her unit were ambushed March 23, the Defense Department announced. Lynch, 19, of Palestine, W.Va., had been missing since nine days ago with 11 other U.S. soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company. The unit was ambushed near Nasiriyah after making a wrong turn during early fighting in the invasion of Iraq. Five other members of her unit were later shown on Iraqi television answering questions from their Iraqi captors. Central Command officials in Qatar, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lynch was rescued from a hospital in Iraq. Fifteen other Americans are formally listed as missing. The other POWs include two Army Apache helicopter pilots captured March 24 after their helicopter went down. Relatives and friends said Lynch, a supply clerk, joined the Army to get an education and follow her dream of becoming a teacher. Her older brother, Gregory, is a member of the National Guard. The 507th Maintenance was attacked during some of the first fighting in Nasiriyah, a Euphrates River-crossing city where sporadic battles have raged since U.S. troops first reached it. Troops and military officials have said much of the fighting there has involved members of the Fedayeen Saddam and other Iraqi paramilitaries who have dressed as civilians and ambushed Americans. Lynch, an aspiring teacher, joined the Army to get an education and take advantage of a rare opportunity in a farming community with an unemployment rate of 15 percent - one of the highest in West Virginia. She was also following in the footsteps of her older brother Gregory, a National Guard member based in Fort Bragg, N.C. Jessica enlisted through the Army's delayed-entry program before graduating from Wirt County High School in Elizabeth. "You would not believe the joys, cries, bawling, hugging, screaming, carrying on," said Lynch's cousin, Pam Nicolais, when asked Tuesday about the rescue. "You just have to be here." Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., called the rescue a miracle. "God watched over Jessica and her family," Rockefeller said through a spokesman in Washington. "All of West Virginia is rejoicing. This is an amazing tribute to the skill and courage of our military." Central Command spokesman Jim Wilkinson said: "We also have others, other POWs we are just as worried about. This is good news today but we need a lot more good news." "America doesn't leave its heroes behind," Wilkinson added. "Never has. Never will."