Lynch meets rescuer

Charleston Daily Mail ^ | April 30, 2004

[NCjim]

Ex-POW wanted private meeting with Iraqi lawyer

Former POW Jessica Lynch has met the Iraqi lawyer who helped lead American soldiers to the Army supply clerk after her capture last spring.

The meeting with Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief took place earlier this month in Washington, D.C., where Lynch was speaking at a seminar.

"It was a wonderful meeting and I can never control my emotion," said al-Rehaief, who is in Huntington for a Saturday book signing.

Al-Rehaief said Lynch was grateful for his part in her rescue.

"She tell me ‘thank you,' and she say ‘thank you very much for what you have done,' " he said. "We feel like it will be a very nice friendship between us in the future. We hope to meet again."

Al-Rehaief and his wife, Iman, brought their 6-year-old daughter, Abir, to meet Lynch, now an aspiring kindergarten teacher.

"Her eyes never got off my daughter," al-Rehaief said.

Lynch was captured March 23, 2003, after her 507th Maintenance Company convoy was ambushed in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. She was rescued nine days later after al-Rehaief alerted U.S. forces and mapped out the hospital where she was being held. A bomb blast as he fled left him blind in his left eye.

The videotaped rescue made Lynch one of the most recognizable personalities of the war.

The Palestine resident, who is still recovering from numerous injuries, had said she wanted to meet al-Rehaief privately, without publicity.

Stephen Goodwin, Lynch's attorney, did not immediately return a telephone message to his office Thursday night.

Al-Rehaief, who is employed by The Livingston Group LLC, a Washington, D.C., lobbying organization, is raising money to help support 14 family members.

[HairOfTheDog]

I hope Jessica is doing well, she has been able to avoid the media spotlight of late.

[Moleman]

Me too, hope all is well. What a cutie she is too!

[Hacksaw]

Yeah, it's about time. Woman should not be in combat positions. And clean that rifle.

[cyborg]

ping

[SuziQ]

I hope Jessica is doing well, she has been able to avoid the media spotlight of late.

Her actions in this just show that all the media hype was probably NEVER of her own, or her family's making.

[Lael]

And clean that rifle

Does anyone know the final recommendation for cleaning fluid for Iraq???

From what I heard, CLP just doesn't cut it!

As to women in combat, I dunno...the female Spectre Gunship and A-10 pilots were pretty effective!!

[#3Fan]

Glad to see she is still recovering and was able to meet this guy without having PTSD.

[cyborg]

Yes. I was happy to see the meeting happen since there was so much speculation before as to why they never met. Who knows? Maybe she couldn't meet him before. I saw his book in the bookstore. Maybe I'll flip through it next time I'm in.

[#3Fan]

Yes. I was happy to see the meeting happen since there was so much speculation before as to why they never met. Who knows? Maybe she couldn't meet him before. I saw his book in the bookstore. Maybe I'll flip through it next time I'm in.

Yeah, many WW2 veterans couldn't be around Japanese because of PTSD.

[Joe 6-pack]

As much as I appreciate what this man did, I've always been curious as to what a lawyer was doing in an Iraqi hospital after the onset of hostilities...looking for Iraqi army worker's comp clients?

[cyborg]

War is hell. It takes some people decades before they get over the trauma.

[longjack]

Going from memory only... I think I remember reading he was there because his wife worked at the hospital, and he had heard stories of American prisoners staying there.

longjack

[#3Fan]

Yeah, that's why I'm glad to see Lynch was able to meet with him so soon without any apparent ill-effects.

[cyborg]

Not being widely reported though. Maybe I'm not paying attention enough to the news.

[#3Fan]

Not being widely reported though.

The media doesn't like to show our soldiers in a good light.

[cyborg]

I'm getting that impression. Every second I'm hearing about Kerry's freaking silver star. I'm sick of it. Let's hear about Tillman getting a silver star, a real hero who if he was alive, wouldn't SPIT on his brothers and sisters in war.

[#3Fan]

I'm getting that impression.

Yeah, the media tried to create the impression that she didn't want to meet with him and jumped all over thhat with their lies, not divulging that it was because she wanted a private meeting and just wanted to wait until she could do that, and of course some here ate it up like they do everything else.

Every second I'm hearing about Kerry's freaking silver star. I'm sick of it. Let's hear about Tillman getting a silver star, a real hero who if he was alive, wouldn't SPIT on his brothers and sisters in war.

Exactly!

[jaykay]

Jessica Lynch never wanted this meeting to be in the news. She didn't want it to be a media circus/publicity stunt. This private meeting happened in early April and is just reported now. If it were up to Lynch, I think it would never have been reported at all. No comment from her or her attorney in the article, just remarks from Mohammad. He just happened to have a book signing in Huntington WV. Well, good for him, he learned to be a good capitalist.