'I'm No Hero' -Former Iraq Captive Jessica Lynch

MaconAreaOnLine ^ | 11/6/03

[Killborn]

Brave, patriotic, and modest.

God bless you PFC Jessica Lynch. Welcome home.

[lelio]

"My weapon did jam and I did not shoot, not a round, nothing.

What kind of gun? Did sand gum it up?

[MJY1288]

What bothers me about this is that it was the media that blew this all out of shape. I never remember any military spokesman detailing anything about her capture or what led up to it. I do remember them saying that it appeared dhe had been shot, but none of this stuff about RAMBO scenes or fight to the death small arms exchanges

[Last Dakotan]

What kind of gun?

One where the safety never comes off.

[Maximum Leader]

Oh man, I'll have to dig the thread out of the archives. It was a Washington Post story quoting unnamed Pentagon sources just after Lnch was rescued.

It was exactly as this article stated, she was a Rambo who fought until she ran out of ammo. When some of us on here expressed skepticism about the story, we were flamed away. Some very angry Freepers were furious that we'd call this American hero a liar. Of course, as Lynch makes clear here, she wasn't the one talking to the Washington Post.

She comes across as a very decent, classy person. I look forward to watching this interview.

[mrustow]

Apparently it was sand, but those maintenance battalions were not instructed properly on the maintenance of their weapons.

[joesnuffy]

DACOWITCH's

[ChefKeith]

Standard issuse M-16.

The tolerances are too close to work when in a sandy enviroment, even worse with the wrong lube because that just attracts MORE sand.

Other threads have discussed this in detail down to the correct type of lube (which from what I read was not supplied like it should have been)

An AK-47 will work in those conditions because of loose tolerances.

[mrustow]

I applaud her honesty. So why the Bronze Star?

[Cacophonous]

Every company has an armorer that is responsible for maintaining weapons. Maintenance company armorers are not trained any better or worse than any other.

[mrustow]

Then I don't understand why her company's weapons should have failed, while other companies' weapons functioned.

[Sloth]

I think all the POWs got Bronzes this time out. Note that hers did not have the V device for valor.

[Maximum Leader]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/883536/posts

The link to the Jessica Lynch/Rambo thread. The Washington Post article begins:

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.

[Humal]

Does anyone know why she had special protection (Secret Service?? FBI??) on her return to the States?

[Cacophonous]

From what I understand, hers was the only one that failed (at least I haven't heard that any of the others' failed). Those things happen, and eventually odds catch up. But it's not necessarily an indication of lousy weapons maintenance.

More likely, to me, is, as someone else suggested, she never flipped the safety off.

[RatSlayer]

ChefKeith said:

"The tolerances are too close to work when in a sandy enviroment, even worse with the wrong lube because that just attracts MORE sand."

This agrees with what I have heard, that improper lubrication has been the primary cause of jamming.

I should also note that I have seen several AR15s that will fail to feed when held by the magazine. Since inexperienced shooters will often grab the magazine in a panic situation (that big magazine is an awfully tempting hand hold), this might have been another factor.

[jwalsh07]

There M16's jammed because they were full of sand. it is not the armorers job to accompany convoys and clean weapons. The armorere repairs weapons, he doesn't do routine cleaning.

The problem was training.

[jwalsh07]

Poor kid, the bastards sodomised her while she was unconscious according to news reports I heard today.

God bless her.

[Terry Mross]

When the fear takes over, and from what I've been told, it WILL take over, anyone can forget to take the safety off. A friend told me the first fire fight he was in every round he fired from his first clip hit about five feet in front of him. Adrenalin flowing!