Jessica Lynch should get medal

High-fives Felix The Assassin

[Stratos]

Tough young lady... where do you meet women like that?

On a more serious note, I believe that she thought that she would get killed instead of taken prisoner and anyone would probably have done what she did or just run away. Maybe she thought that the Iraqi soldiers were babaric just because their leader is or that she risked being raped.

[john]

I'm sure that as soon as we find out where they are the other 9 pows will be rescued as well..We don't leave our brothers behind!

[Donut]

Originally posted by john: I'm sure that as soon as we find out where they are the other 9 pows will be rescued as well..We don't leave our brothers behind!

Que?

Donut...those who were shown on Al-Jazeera/Iraqi TV...the known live POW's (5 I think).

Here is a story about one of those taken from the hospital compound

Being part Native American, earlier televised reports on this woman really hit home with me as when a spokesman for the Hopi tribe was addressing the press on the fact that she was identified as one of those buried there, it began to snow.

One of the Hopi beliefs is that when one of their own are killed away from home, they come back "in the form of moisture" (clouds, precipitation). The whole comunity felt her presence and that provides them with more comfort in spite of the fact that she cannot return in her human form...they know she was there with them. [img]smile.gif[/img]

EDIT: A local news station did a piece on the young man from Comfort, Texas.
Interviews with his dad, letting every who didn't know him get a better idea of what kind of person he was (good-hearted, kind, friendly, outgoing, happy, etc)
His wife is expecting their first child this week.

[ 04-06-2003, 08:43 PM: Message edited by: Lil Lil ]

[Nachtrafe]

Originally posted by Felix The Assassin: **SNIP(a thoroughly awesome post)** From the sidelines in Europe Felix

Thanks for this Felix. I was reading this thread a bit on the weekend, but didn't have a chance to post. You summed up pretty much what I was going to say. [img]smile.gif[/img]

PS: Where are you stationed in Europe? Do you expect to be deployed?

Oh, and actually ON topic...Yep, she should get a Purple Heart, and, if even half of what is being reported about her actions prior to her capture are true, then that young lady deserves the Silver Star.

AFAIC the lawyer deserves to get the Presidential Medal of Freedom! He risked his life multiple times to rescue not only a US Service person, but all he wanted was a US FLAG!!! How awesome is that!?!

AFA the other casualties/dead POW's...well, their families should get posthumus Purple Hearts, and some of them will probably be getting other medals. Sadly, this wont fill the void in their hearts/lives...but hopefully they'll at least understand that they weren't forgotten. I plan to add them to my 'send positive thoughts to' list. *SIGH* That list just keeps getting longer and longer.

[Sir Taliesin]

Originally posted by Felix The Assassin: Quote: Originally posted by Malthaussen: From what I've heard of the incident, it seems Pfc Lynch handled herself professionally. Indeed, I strongly doubt that any rescue operation would have been launched had she not been female; we're not talking about Patton's son here. (For those who don't know the reference, in WWII general G. S. Patton mounted an operation to liberate his son from a POW camp in Germany) One of the arguments often heard in regards to women in the fighting forces -- and the only one I personally think has any validity -- is that they will inevitably be treated differently from males, and that fellow soldiers may put themselves at unreasonable risk to assure the safety of female combatants. This does in fact seem to be the case, here, with a multi-unit operation being mounted to free one rifleman from an enemy installation. Regardless, if such risk is to be considered significant enough to influence operational decisions, then possibly those who argue against the employment of females in the combatant arms have a more justifiable case than would otherwise appear. -- Mal

Back The Truck Up!

1st, PFC Lynch IS NOT A COMBATANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is a armed Non-Combatant. She is not a Grunt,(All deployed soldiers have the right to self defense) she is a clerk. In persepctive, at your office the female secretary is mugged going to get supplies. Versus the armed securty guard going down while protecting the boss. You will feel a whole lot more for the secretary than the guard!
Yes she deserves a medal! Yes she should get 2! One will be a PH, the other should be a Silver Star. Only to be determined after the validation of her actions.

2nd, G.S. Patton never launched a rescue raid to save his son.
However, G.S. Patton did launch a very daring raid to resuce his Son-In-Law, who was a POW. The operation is titled as Raid On Hammelburg. It was a complete failure! If they would of had a little more intel, that raid could have been very fruitful. The capture of two German Generals, and one Field Marshall, could have been accomplished.

3rd, For a what we call a "REMF" Rear Echelon ..... She did one hell of a job trying to prevent capture, most REMFs probably would have not been capable of those actions.

4th, Females are in CSS Combat Service & Support units, and further back. A CSS is part of a heavy Divisions total man power, not combatants. We have allowed females into attack helicopters, I have meet 1, and she transferred over from a nurse.

5th, For those of you who don't know, I'm a 20 yr man, and a DS vet. I am a Combatant. The difference is, when I pull the trigger 4 SOBs are heading straight to Hell, Courtesy of a 120mm Depleted Urainium long rod penetrator travelling at a speed of over 1 mile a second, with a range of 5,000 meters. 3-7 CAV is doing what all Tankers dream of, Death and Destruction to the enemy. Destroying as of this morning's accounts over 22 Russian made T-72's, that were dug in, and manned by the Republican Guard. Trucking HooAh!!

6th SF is well, like their name implies, Special. The ROE has changed due to the tactics that are being used on our soldiers. Leave no man behind, is not some trucking movie script. That is trucking real! No matter who was in that hospital,(combatant, non-combatant, Male or Female, it was a known to be alive US Soldier!) when the info was reviewed, and the pre-strike rehearsal was completed, the mission was on. And it was successful.

7th For all of those that have been pounding their coffee cups on the table about the innocent folks in that hospital. Well Trucking pound sand! Toture chambers were found, a stockpile of mortar munitions and small arms cache, along with some RPGs were co-located there also! SF does not kill just to kill, silence and stealth is their watch words. If the non team memeber does not pose a threat, then they are passed. So all doctors and nurses that were not there to start with, were not harmed. The other patients that were there were also not harmed. So go Trucking pound sand!

From the sidelines in Europe
Felix[/QUOTE] Stronger and truer words were never written! Salute to Felix!!!

[Malthaussen]

Last time I heard, Felix, all soldiers were Bravo-11; you get that in boot camp. Possibly times have changed, but I hardly think arguing over jargon makes much difference. Actually, I would feel no worse about a security guard going down than a secretary -- while the guard may be paid (chickendip) to lay his rear on the line, dead is dead, and he wasn't paid for that.

-- Mal

[Desdicado]

Oh dear, here comes another US-centric war film in the making. Starring Britney as Jessica Lynch probably.

[Skunk]

Maybe she thought that the Iraqi soldiers were babaric just because their leader is or that she risked being raped.

Well whether in Iraqi hands or not - the fact that she's in uniform means that she has a very high chance of being raped anyway:
"More than 67,000 women veterans, or as much as 29 percent of those served at Veterans Affairs clinics in recent years, say they experienced sexual assault in the military" and in 1996 *alone* the "Defense Department surveyed women in the military about their experiences in the previous 12 months, and found that 9 percent of women in the Marines, 8 percent of women in the Army, 6 percent of women in the Navy and 4 percent of women in the Air Force had experienced a rape or an attempted rape that year."
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15542

Given the risks, it seems to me that every woman should get a silver star just for completing each year of service...