Posted on 04/24/2007 11:46:49 PM PDT by Star Traveler
US Soldier hailed for bravery in Iraq says Pentagon spin doctors made it all up
By DAVID GARDNER
The American military has been accused of telling lies about two of its most famous soldiers.
Official versions of the rescue of prisoner of war Jessica Lynch and the death of former US football star Pat Tillman turned both into national heroes.
But the propaganda was dismissed as "utter fiction" at a Capitol Hill hearing to expose the false battlefield stories peddled by the Pentagon.
Jessica Lynch, now 23, said she was giving testimony "to set the record straight".
"I'm no hero, the people who served with me who died are the real heroes," she said. "The truth of war is not always easy. The truth is always more heroic than the hype."
She said the stories of derring-do did not apply to her.
The former army private became a celebrity after being taken prisoner as the first wave of U.S. troops invaded Iraq in March 2003.
Military chiefs hailed her a gritty heroine who was only captured after putting up fierce resistance during a gunfight during which she was shot and stabbed.
She was eventually freed in a US raid on a hospital where she was being held captive, the Pentagon said.
But it later emerged that her gun was jammed with sand so she couldn't use it and she was only injured when her vehicle crashed.
There were no Iraqi troops at the Saddam Hussein General Hospital when the Americans carried out their "rescue" and medical staff had unsuccessfully tried to hand over the wounded private to US forces prior to the raid.
Although an authorised book about her ordeal claimed she was raped by enemy soldiers, Iraqi doctors have disputed the allegations and Miss Lynch says she was too traumatised to remember it.
"My parents were hearing the story that I was this little girl Rambo from the hills of West Virginia who went down fighting. But it wasn't true.
"The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own ideals of heroes and they don't need to be told elaborate tales.
"Why did they lie when the real heroes were my fellow soldiers who rescued others or fought to the death?"
She told Congress she had a sixinch gash in her head and severe back and leg problems from injuries suffered during the battle that killed 11 US troops.
Her testimony began with a recollection of the March 2003 attack. As she and her fellow soldiers drove through Nassiriya, Iraq, they noticed armed men standing on rooftops. Three soldiers were quickly killed when a rocket-propelled-grenade hit their vehicle.
Another eight died in the ensuing fighting. Miss Lynch said she later woke up in hospital. "When I awoke, I did not know where I was. I could not move. I could not call for help. I could not fight," she said.
"The nurses at the hospital tried to soothe me, and they even tried unsuccessfully at one point to return me to Americans."
On April 1, US troops came for her. "A soldier came into the room. He tore the American flag from his uniform, and he handed it to me in my hand and he told me, 'We're American soldiers, and we're here to take you home'. And I looked at him and I said, 'Yes, I'm an American soldier, too'."
"I had the good fortune to come home and to tell the truth. Many soldiers, like Pat Tillman, did not have that opportunity," she added.
"I'm still confused as to why they chose to lie and try to make me a legend when the real heroes were my fellow soldiers that day."
Pat Tillman, 27, became a national hero after he gave up a lucrative contract with the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals to join the US Army and was killed during an ambush in an Afghan mountain pass three years ago.
Tillman, a member of the army's elite Rangers force, was awarded the Silver Star, the military's thirdhighest combat decoration, after the Pentagon said he was killed leading a counter-attack.
The story was revealed as bogus after pressure from Tillman's family. In reality he died as a result of friendly fire.
His brother Kevin - who also joined up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and was in a convoy behind his brother - rejected army claims that the confusion arose because of the fog of war.
He said the Pentagon version was "utter fiction" and charged the military with "intentional falsehoods that meet the legal definition for fraud".
"We believe this narrative was intended to deceive the family but more importantly the American public," he added.
The committee's Democrat chairman Henry Waxman said: "The bare minimum we owe our soldiers and their families is the truth. That didn't happen for two of the most famous soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars."
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24/04/07 - News section
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Find this story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=450509&in_page_id=1770 ©2007 Associated New Media
I don't remember a Pentagon spokesperson ever saying JL went down shooting at the Iraqis, etc. I do remember the media making a big deal out of her being taken away.
You said — “How naive. The people holding this hearing are not interested in the truth. They are only interested in demoralizing the American people and the Military. So, if not this story, then another story. We would still be hearing this crap, just different distortions delivered to demoralize.”
There would be nothing to gripe about — in regards to *this story*. There might have been another story that soeone bungled, but at least not this one....
.
You then said — This is because the Democrats must defeat the United States at this point and they must do this by destroying the credibility of the Military when they are saying things are going better. That is the story line of this hearing. “You can’t trust the Military when its saying things are going better so just declare defeat like we want.”
Well I know what the Democrats are going to try to do. All the more reason to get it right in the first place... Why hand them something on a silver platter?
You said — “I don’t remember a Pentagon spokesperson ever saying JL went down shooting at the Iraqis, etc. I do remember the media making a big deal out of her being taken away.”
Well, how about someone posting her Congressional Testimony here then (and any others). I don’t know how to get it.
Well, did Jim call this poster that or is this you, without any knowledge of who i am backing, calling me this? If it is the former, i can only imagine what may have prompted Jim to say it. Now if the latter, I would suggest you reconsider , unless of course your no chance in hell candidate is piping your points through your aluminum chapeau.
I consider all the one-issue, my way or the highway “true and principled conservatives “ to be no better than the moonbat Left we all decry.
So, which is it?
You asked — “Well, did Jim call this poster that or is this you, without any knowledge of who i am backing, calling me this?”
This was Jim’s one word response to him...
.
You said — “I consider all the one-issue, my way or the highway “true and principled conservatives “ to be no better than the moonbat Left we all decry.”
Well, I’m just repeating what Jim Robinson said — which was basically there was “no way in hell” he was going to let that guy get in and that he was gong to do all he could against him. So, as I was saying, the answer back to him was that if Jim was going to do that because he only got 75% of what he wanted, then that would guarantee Hillary would be in — and the next answer was as I said — the one word response...
Well, because both of these are old stories. Lynch's story came out immediately, just as several folks said. The "Fog" of war is real, and it causes lots of speculation to occur before the facts get out. You are allowing/helping the Military to be saddled with an impossible standard of correcting press distortions as part of telling the "truth" for most of the "heroic" story line was press accounts not military releases.
The military line on "her heroism" is mostly about what she said when they rescued her, which was not all that heroic. Everyone was glad she was rescued. This is all about insisting that the Military be a wet blanket when people are happy in the middle of battle and thats just plain nuts.
But, my point is that if the "truth" that you want to have been "told" at the time had been, then we would just be exposed to something else. Because Waxman has no interest whatsoever about any of this other than finding something to say that the Military isn't 100% accurate all of the time and then spinning the natural mistakes into an indictment of the military as being untrustworthy.
They want a Mi Lai incident but they will find anything they can. They just want to tear down feelings of Patriotism and Courage and get folks to second guess and criticize the Military who is and has always been an easy target if you are so inclined.
In order to satisfy your demand for telling the "truth" at the time as you seem to imply is reasonable. Our guys are now having to file additional reports when ever they use their weapons as if they were police officers. Now after action reports have always been filed but not an accounting of every action by every grunt. Soldiers are wearing cameras into action to prove they were fired on.
This is all insane and you are feeding it. This is about "SLOW BLEED" Defeating the United States here and in Iraq by demoralization, bureaucratic barriers, lack of equipment, supplies and reinforcements. Just don't claim to have some high horse stance when you are just being suckered into supporting their crap.
This is old news and should be responded to with ok.. so what?
How about Hillary Clinton...when she said her daughter was having Coffee at the Foot of the Twin towers. Wasn’t that evkoing the True Character of Hillary... easily LIE as David Geffen says..
what was this in reference to?
So true. I know of one death because a trooper stood up in his fighting hole to take a photo of close air support; it killed him. I know of two who died in a combat zone because of drunkeness. I seriously doubt that their families were ever told the truth.
I think the white lie is so necessary in cases like this. You and everyone you know thinks your son died going up against the enemy, and everyone appreciates it. I can't believe that this doesn't help in the recovery process. But learning that it was all a mistake - that's got to be devastating. It's enough that our soldiers die in battle - it's not necessary to drive their loved ones to early graves.
I saw Jessica Lynch on TV today. I felt so sad. She’s being used again — this time by Democrats for political ends.
I would agree with you insofar as her testimony discounting her own heroism, but I disagree anything she might have to say about her repatriation. If she was immobilized in a hospital bed, imprisoned or not, she is the least qualified person to comment on the operational & tactical aspects of the rescue operation. Anything she might say there is second-hand, at best.
I am amazed that this is a big story today. It was well known here and at some other sites I visit that Lynch was a pumped up story. The guy that supposedly walk 10 miles to tell US where she was is also crap BTW.
Mad out.
You really believe that?
I'm reminded of the Jack Nicholson line in "A Few Good Men", "You can't handle the Truth." (I don't mean you, personally). The fact is that things are done in the heat of combat that men can not talk about for years. WW2 vets will admit to eachother that they did this or that were outside the accepted rules of warfare.
I know a Korean War vet that said that it was SOP NOT to take prisoners until the position was secured. That means there were no fine distinctions made about whether an opposing soldier was "resisting" or not. I've seen our own generals blanche at roundtable discussions when a veteran junior officer mentions this type of thing.
Good Morning Zhang Fei,
Excellent post and the timing of her setting the record straight is very questionable. I smell some democratic operatives in this marshmellow roast.
Integrity is a value good soldiers always adhere constantly in their thoughts, deeds and actions. Where was Pvt Lynch’s integrity from the very beginning???
If her story and rescue were a lie, then she aided and abetted that lie as well.
What we see happening is another left-wing commie house, senate and msm attack on our President/Military.
I am sure Bush will once again turn the other cheek and be a good boy as usual.
Lynch was no hero, possessed no integrity and enjoyed the media attention/parades. The reality, she should not have been anywhere near a combat zone. Feminists like to put other womens lives on the line, but not theirs.
I would be very curious to know her past and recent political affiliations since she was discharged/medically retired from the military.
Maybe the VA should reconsider her disability award. I think see may be lying about her service connected disablities as well.
Respectfully,
NSNR
Don't feel too bad. She has a choice in this matter -- even if she was compelled to testify.
thank you. You have explained exactly what happens.
Heck I've heard men get 3-4 Purple Hearts without any visible wounds. While braver men are overlooked.... War ain't fair.
Never was,never is and never will be. The Army was just trying to be "nice". Maybe a couple of REMF tried to put lipstick on a pig as far as friendly fire with Tillman, but he died in combat trying to save the life of a fellow soldier.
The PC police were trying to make the "women can handle combat" point as well.
It's war and any fire you're getting isn't "friendly fire". He died a soldiers death. I feel sorry for him, he seemed like an honorable man.
My father explained it very well to me. He said,"sometimes the 'best' soldier, the 'fastest,strongest,meanest' SOB gets killed by a helicopter tire blowing up....that's war. That's all it is....people die and it sucks. There is no "fair" in war. There is no "deserve" in war. There's just war and its the most awful thing to see, do and live through.
It's also the time when you feel the most alive and can truly appreciate every minute of the day. The beer never was colder, the laughs never funnier, the brotherhood with other men in similar danger never more evident or closer..... and with the exception of losing a child, the sadness and anger never as great.
Marines I've met that served during the "Frozen Chosin", Iwo Jima, Vietnam and other nameless, god-awful 20 minute firefights still smile when they see each other and shake hands, hug and "remember" when they were full of piss and vinegar. I think Churchill said, "There is nothing as exhilarating as being shot at and missed."
Not really, as George Orwell demonstrated - few people follow the advice of Aeschylus (see my tagline).
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