Jessica Lynch biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Public figure Jessica Dawn Lynch was born on April 26, 1983, in Palestine, West Virginia. For Lynch, the Army had always represented a chance to see the world. Even at a young age, Jessica knew she wanted to see as much of what lay beyond her home state as she could. "I wanted to improve my life and not just be there in Palestine forever," she later said. "I wanted to get out and do something." According to her father Gregory, a self-employed trucker, Lynch was also a stubborn child. "If someone told her she couldn't do something, she'd do it just to show them," he once recalled.

After graduating from Wirt County High School in 2001, Lynch, along with her brother, Gregory Jr., joined the Army. She left for basic training at Fort Bliss on September 19, 2001 - less than two weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11. Even in the wake of the tragedy, Lynch didn't figure on seeing combat. Instead, she saw her time at Fort Bliss, where she worked as a supply clerk, as a good way to gain some practical business experience. As Lynch saw it, she'd be in the Army for a few years, get out, return to school and follow her dream of becoming a kindergarten teacher.

Captive

But as it did for thousands of others in the military, the start of the war in Iraq changed everything. By March 2003, with the war fully started, Lynch was in Iraq with the 507th Maintenance Company. On March 23, 2003, the war was just a few weeks old. Lynch's company, which was staked out near the end of an 8,000-vehicle convoy, ran into trouble in the city of Nasiriya. Faulty navigational equipment had led them right into enemy territory, resulting in a 90-minute-long fire fight that resulted in the death of 11 American soldiers and the capture of an injured Lynch. For the next week, Lynch was held captive by Iraqi soldiers at Saddam Hospital in Nasiriya. She was rescued soon after by U.S. troops who stormed the facility.

Media Firestorm

Her story, and her seemingly dramatic rescue, riveted news watchers. The video of the military operation, and a clearly hurting-but-relieved Lynch flashing a smile for cameras, spread quickly through news outlets and thrust the young soldier into the limelight. The stories of her heroism included accounts of a severely injured Lynch firing her gun at Iraqi soldiers until she ran out of ammunition. A Private First Class member of the U.S. Army, the fresh-faced Lynch was suddenly the face of American forces in Iraq.

But later reports cast everything in a different light. According to some accounts, there weren't actually any Iraqi solders present when Army Rangers, Navy SEALS, Marines, Air Force pilots, and command controllers barged into the hospital.