Helpful Score: 3
The tale of Jessica's Lynch's capture was a daring feat of fiction, important to the war effort. As Jessica Lynch herself courageously told congressional investigators, the "story of the little girl Rambo from the hills who went down fighting" was a lie. Unlike Patrick Tillman, she lived to tell at least some of her story herself, but she admitted she is "still confused as to why they chose to lie and tried to make me a legend." To explain why, and in this case how she become a legend, we need to go back to "initial combat operations," to the middle of the invasion of Iraq when a blinding sand storm had stalled the push into Baghdad.
What the war needed at that moment was a stunning plot reversal to propel the war forward. In the wee hours of the morning on April 2, the military provided the much-needed heroic device (with middle-of-the-night footage): the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch was announced to reporters at a 2:00am briefing at Central Command in Qatar. The young Private had been plucked from a Nasiriyah hospital by a crack commando unit that carried her to safety in a waiting Black Hawk helicopter. Greenish night-vision video taken by a member of the rescue team was aired for journalists the following morning. The gripping story was ubiquitously described as a "daring raid" (e.g., CNN 4-8-03; NBC 4-6-03; ABC 4-7-03). For CBS (4/11/03), it was "a story for history, Jessica comes home." CNN (4-1-03) declared, "it was such a lift." As Time magazine put it (4-14-03), the story "buoyed a nation wondering what had happened to the short, neat liberation of Iraq." "Hollywood," the magazine asserted, "could not have dreamed up a more singular tale."
Doubts about the story's authenticity were first raised by the London Times (4-16-03), which reported that Lynch's rescue "was not the heroic Hollywood story told by the U.S. military, but a staged operation that terrified patients and victimized the doctors who had struggled to save her life." Based on interviews with hospital personnel, including Dr. Harith al-Houssona, the doctor who attended Lynch, the Times account described a terrifying assault in which soldiers handcuffed and interrogated doctors and patients, one of whom was paralyzed and on an intravenous drip.
By May the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC2 5-18-03) had thoroughly investigated the incident and concluded that, "Her story is one of the most stunning pieces of news management ever conceived." Though the assault met no resistance, as Iraqi and Baath leadership forces had fled the city the day before, the action was staged by the US military. "It was like a Hollywood film. They cried 'go, go, go,' with guns and blanks without bullets, and the sound of explosions. They made a show for the American attack on the hospital action movies like Sylvester Stallone or Jackie Chan."
During last week's hearing before the House Government Oversight Committee, the committee's senior Republican member, Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, argued in his opening statement that the Lynch rescue was exaggerated by the media, not by the military. It is certainly true that the media did embellish the story, but the story itself was created by the military. No embedded journalist accompanied the raid, and the green night-vision footage of Lynch's rescue was shot by soldiers. As Robert Scheer later noted, "The video was artfully edited by the Pentagon and released as proof that a battle to free Lynch had occurred when it had not."
As the BBC noted in its report on the staging of Lynch's rescue, "The Pentagon had been influenced by Hollywood producers of reality TV and action movies, notably the man behind Black Hawk Down, Jerry Bruckheimer." Indeed, one officer quoted in Time expressly compared the film to Bruckheimer's movie. The rescue, he said, "worked perfectly. It was like Black Hawk Down except nothing went wrong." Like so much of the Bush war rhetoric that was patterned after entertainment fictions, the media would legitimate their own narratives.
The irony is that the Iraqi doctors had worked hard to save Lynch's life, but when they attempted to deliver her to a U.S. outpost the day before the raid, the Americans fired on the ambulance driver, making it impossible to proceed. Following the CentCom briefing, the Washington Post headlined its story, "She was Fighting to the Death" and reported that she had sustained "multiple gunshot wounds" and was later stabbed by Iraqi forces. Only later would it emerge, as Lynch testified this week, that she "was neither shot nor stabbed, but rather suffered accident injuries when her vehicle overturned."
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6005
What the war needed at that moment was a stunning plot reversal to propel the war forward. In the wee hours of the morning on April 2, the military provided the much-needed heroic device (with middle-of-the-night footage): the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch was announced to reporters at a 2:00am briefing at Central Command in Qatar. The young Private had been plucked from a Nasiriyah hospital by a crack commando unit that carried her to safety in a waiting Black Hawk helicopter. Greenish night-vision video taken by a member of the rescue team was aired for journalists the following morning. The gripping story was ubiquitously described as a "daring raid" (e.g., CNN 4-8-03; NBC 4-6-03; ABC 4-7-03). For CBS (4/11/03), it was "a story for history, Jessica comes home." CNN (4-1-03) declared, "it was such a lift." As Time magazine put it (4-14-03), the story "buoyed a nation wondering what had happened to the short, neat liberation of Iraq." "Hollywood," the magazine asserted, "could not have dreamed up a more singular tale."
Doubts about the story's authenticity were first raised by the London Times (4-16-03), which reported that Lynch's rescue "was not the heroic Hollywood story told by the U.S. military, but a staged operation that terrified patients and victimized the doctors who had struggled to save her life." Based on interviews with hospital personnel, including Dr. Harith al-Houssona, the doctor who attended Lynch, the Times account described a terrifying assault in which soldiers handcuffed and interrogated doctors and patients, one of whom was paralyzed and on an intravenous drip.
By May the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC2 5-18-03) had thoroughly investigated the incident and concluded that, "Her story is one of the most stunning pieces of news management ever conceived." Though the assault met no resistance, as Iraqi and Baath leadership forces had fled the city the day before, the action was staged by the US military. "It was like a Hollywood film. They cried 'go, go, go,' with guns and blanks without bullets, and the sound of explosions. They made a show for the American attack on the hospital action movies like Sylvester Stallone or Jackie Chan."
During last week's hearing before the House Government Oversight Committee, the committee's senior Republican member, Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, argued in his opening statement that the Lynch rescue was exaggerated by the media, not by the military. It is certainly true that the media did embellish the story, but the story itself was created by the military. No embedded journalist accompanied the raid, and the green night-vision footage of Lynch's rescue was shot by soldiers. As Robert Scheer later noted, "The video was artfully edited by the Pentagon and released as proof that a battle to free Lynch had occurred when it had not."
As the BBC noted in its report on the staging of Lynch's rescue, "The Pentagon had been influenced by Hollywood producers of reality TV and action movies, notably the man behind Black Hawk Down, Jerry Bruckheimer." Indeed, one officer quoted in Time expressly compared the film to Bruckheimer's movie. The rescue, he said, "worked perfectly. It was like Black Hawk Down except nothing went wrong." Like so much of the Bush war rhetoric that was patterned after entertainment fictions, the media would legitimate their own narratives.
The irony is that the Iraqi doctors had worked hard to save Lynch's life, but when they attempted to deliver her to a U.S. outpost the day before the raid, the Americans fired on the ambulance driver, making it impossible to proceed. Following the CentCom briefing, the Washington Post headlined its story, "She was Fighting to the Death" and reported that she had sustained "multiple gunshot wounds" and was later stabbed by Iraqi forces. Only later would it emerge, as Lynch testified this week, that she "was neither shot nor stabbed, but rather suffered accident injuries when her vehicle overturned."
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6005
Christine W. (savedbyhisblood) reviewed I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story on + 36 more book reviews
an interesting story, I was surprised at some of the details
Very good book. Really goes in depth on behind the scenes and a true life account of what really goes on in Iraq. Very moving, very sad and very real.
Very interesting and hard to put down!!
Sarah B. (Pixie328) reviewed I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story on + 391 more book reviews
A sad but wonderful story of a heroic young woman fighting for our country
I enjoyed this book very much!! I have friends in Iraq and to read page by page what these soldiers face is terrifying...but the bravery is remarkable! Jessica Lynch is an American hero!!
Karen W. (bluebird1) - , reviewed I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story on + 9 more book reviews
very interesting
Brandie D. (Bennie-Leigh) reviewed I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story on + 48 more book reviews
This book about Jessica Lynch left with tears of sorrow, and joy. For anyone who would like to know more about her story this is the book to read. It did leave me wondering how she is today. She was still in PT when the book ended.
Shelley M. (shelleylmb) - , reviewed I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story on + 47 more book reviews
Compelling story of an American Soldier's bravery and faith in her fellow soldiers to rescue her at a time of great need.
Felicia F. (Ferry5507) reviewed I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story on + 2 more book reviews
This was a good book. very touching and sad
Veronica N. (VeronicaNagy) reviewed I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story on + 48 more book reviews
I knew this girl and I am thankful for her honesty and integrity, she did a good job telling her story and Rick Bragg did a good job of writing it. Very accurate account of that March day in a young girls life.
I grew up and spent most of my marriage near Jessica's hometown so I could almost see the places which were talked about. I felt that she was "one of my own". The story taught me many things about her that I did not know had happened and I felt so bad for her. She certainly is a war hero and I can only imagine the pain that will haunt her for the rest of her life.
Lynda C. (Readnmachine) reviewed I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story on + 1472 more book reviews
Only Rick Bragg's skill as a journalist keeps this from being a total car wreck. The story of Jessica Lynch, a 19-year-old small-town girl captured in the early days of the Iraqi war, is ultimately a story composed of equal parts bathos and outrage.
Lynch, who grew up in a blue-collar family in West Virginia, followed many of her friends and classmates into the military,and for the same reason -- it promised a path out of the hollers, money for college, and a chance to see the world. Buried in the small print was the reality that soldiers sometimes go to war, and the promise of a clerical job stateside isn't always kept.
How Jessica and her companions ended up in a brutal firefight in an Iraqi city they had been specifically warned to avoid, with equipment that refused to function and communications that failed, is the story of incompetence, carelessness, and criminal unpreparedness. Captured, brutalized, dumped near death on the doorstep of an Iraqi hospital, Jessica was ultimately the subject of a rescue mission that caught the imagination of the world and whose methods and later promotion only later began to be questioned.
Again, Bragg is a professional journalist (as well as a hell of a writer), and he never lets the story slant off the straight and narrow. But neither does he gloss over the fact that mistakes, miscalculations, and negligence by Jessica's superior officers led to the death of seven of her companions and the wounding of eleven more.
Early on, as the background of Jessica's early life is spun out, the book drags somewhat, picking up only with the events leading up to her capture, bouncing back and forth between Iraq and West Virginia. The balance of the book, outlining her rescue, recovery, and return home, are actually more compelling than the battle scenes, and even harder to forget or dismiss.
It's an honest and thoughtful book that digs deep into the heart of America and takes a hard look at what we really ask of our children in times of conflict.
Lynch, who grew up in a blue-collar family in West Virginia, followed many of her friends and classmates into the military,and for the same reason -- it promised a path out of the hollers, money for college, and a chance to see the world. Buried in the small print was the reality that soldiers sometimes go to war, and the promise of a clerical job stateside isn't always kept.
How Jessica and her companions ended up in a brutal firefight in an Iraqi city they had been specifically warned to avoid, with equipment that refused to function and communications that failed, is the story of incompetence, carelessness, and criminal unpreparedness. Captured, brutalized, dumped near death on the doorstep of an Iraqi hospital, Jessica was ultimately the subject of a rescue mission that caught the imagination of the world and whose methods and later promotion only later began to be questioned.
Again, Bragg is a professional journalist (as well as a hell of a writer), and he never lets the story slant off the straight and narrow. But neither does he gloss over the fact that mistakes, miscalculations, and negligence by Jessica's superior officers led to the death of seven of her companions and the wounding of eleven more.
Early on, as the background of Jessica's early life is spun out, the book drags somewhat, picking up only with the events leading up to her capture, bouncing back and forth between Iraq and West Virginia. The balance of the book, outlining her rescue, recovery, and return home, are actually more compelling than the battle scenes, and even harder to forget or dismiss.
It's an honest and thoughtful book that digs deep into the heart of America and takes a hard look at what we really ask of our children in times of conflict.
BOOK WAS JUST OK---NOTHING SPECIAL
Rick Bragg is the best selling author of AVA'S MAN and ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTIN'. This is the story of the brave young woman who put the War in Iraq into personal terms the very first week....
