Jessica Lynch Awarded Bronze Star !

Kansas City Star ^ | 7/22/2003 | Gavin McCormick

[Lijahsbubbe]

Okay, I see where you're coming from.

Now, as a woman, I'm saying I wouldn't want that attributed to me if it didn't happen, or if I didn't want anyone to know.

[Tailgunner Joe]

The government can clear up all the confusion by telling us what really happened. I wonder what they have to hide.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I may have to correct an earlier post. Just a theory that the Army may have held the facts until today's press conference by Jessica Lynch to let her tell her own story. They may be leaving how much she wants to tell the public about what she does remember and her condition up to her.

[MEG33]

No problem.Yes..You can find many opinions on my page of posts.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Frankly, I don't think it should be up to her.

We need these questions answered for the sake of making sound military policy. Female recruits need to have full disclosure about their conditions of employment, not a fairy tale.

UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS: THE MYSTERY OF PFC. LYNCH: What We Need to Know About “Bloody Sunday”

[MEG33]

If you were raped,do you think you'd want to have the choice on whether to reveal it publically?

[Tailgunner Joe]

She didn't have the choice to disobey the orders that sent her into the combat zone, why should she now have the choice to conceal the consequences of those malicious orders?

[MEG33]

I am not talking about keeping it from the army,they need to know..I don't.I'm talking about choosing to go public.

[xm177e2]

She gets a Broze Star for bravery, for standing her ground in the face of a relentless assault. Fending off media advances, she refused to dispute the made-up story of her heroic battle (which played well here at home on the TV helping Bush keep the war popular), instead claiming to have amnesia. She took one for the team, and now she gets her public relations medal.

[Tailgunner Joe]

The public deserves to know the consequences of the rapist Clinton's misogynistic policies designed to weaken our military and pander to feminazi lesbians.

This is not just a military issue, but a political one. If we don't pressure the President to cleanse himslef of this Clinton slime then he'll just let the same Clinton military advisers who made this policy continue it.

I could care less if Kobe Bryant's victim was raped, but Pfc. Lynch's rape has much greater political implications.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Her family said she never claimed to have amnesia.

Another lie.

She has been sequestered from the public and was likely ordered to keep quiet to save the administration from their richly deserved humiliation.

[Pern]

A Bronze Star, usually awarded for Sacrifice and Valor in Combat, awarded to a pretty white girl because (besides being a pretty white girl) she and her company got lost, got ambushed, were defeated, and taken captive by the enemy.

I can understand the Purple Heart, maybe even a POW medal, but the Bronze Star? It's a publicity stunt, and it cheapens the value of the medal, and mocks the people that actually deserve it.

Welcome to the new, politically correct, kinder, gentler Armed Forces.

[MEG33]

You and I are discussing different things,I see.I wasn't thinking politics.

[rabidralph]

But I could be wrong. Perhaps the combat troops in Iraq are totally thrilled that she gets a medal on top of big bucks for her story, while they get nothing.

I can't think of anyone who joined the military for the medals. I certainly didn't. The mature service members will recognize that they are all small pieces of the puzzle and that they do their duty to the best of their ability each day, asking nothing in return except to get out alive. Some do, some don't--that's life.

[Viet Vet in Augusta GA]

"The Bronze Star is given for meritorious combat service..." Confused reporter. You can get a Bronze Star for meritorious service, or you can get a Bronze Star with V device for "valor". Not clear from story which she got. Lots of folks in my war got meritorious service Bronze Stars for showing up for duty.

[jaykay]

I have no idea what Lynch or Johnson did to earn Bronze Stars or what the male soldiers from the 507th who received bronze and a silver star did to earn their medals. If you have information the rest of us do not about what happened to those soldiers and what they did or did not do to earn their medals, please share your knowledge. Without hard facts to the contrary, I'll give the benefit of the doubt to American soldiers, male or female, as to their deserving any medals they are awarded. I hate the thought of women being placed anywhere near a war zone, but they are there and deserve recognition when they perform above and beyond.

[Steel Wolf]

We need these questions answered for the sake of making sound military policy. Female recruits need to have full disclosure about their conditions of employment, not a fairy tale.

I completely agree. After reading about the treatment of POWs in WWII and Korea (Notably 'Ghost Soldiers', concerning the Bataan death march survivors, and various books on North Korean prison camps) I'd have to say that soldiers are far better off having an idea what they're getting into.

Not every soldier has the opportunity to go to SERE school, or even do worthwile unit level training. They can at least be mentally aware and prepared for what awaits them should they become captured. Not being prepared causes people to break under the pressure far sooner than they could hold out.

There is nothing to be gained by avoiding the issue. Soldiers should know what they're up against, always. If female soldiers have different challenges to face than male ones, those should be well identified.

[Tailgunner Joe]

She did receive the V for valor.

[MEG33]

Rape is a possibility for both sexes.

[Viet Vet in Augusta GA]

I couldn't figure that out from the story. If she got a V, I have a lot of buddies who deserve the Congressional Medal of Honor...