Pfc. Jessica Lynch, rescued Tuesday from an Iraqi hospital, fought fiercely and shot several enemy soldiers after Iraqi forces ambushed the Army's 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition, U.S. officials said yesterday.
Lynch, a 19-year-old supply clerk, continued firing at the Iraqis even after she sustained multiple gunshot wounds and watched several other soldiers in her unit die around her in fighting March 23, one official said. The ambush took place after a 507th convoy, supporting the advancing 3rd Infantry Division, took a wrong turn near the southern city of Nasiriyah. . . "She was fighting to the death," the official said. "She did not want to be taken alive."
I had been withholding comment on the rescue because; I wanted to know more about the circumstances of her capture. She really is a hero, and proved to be brave when the situation called. I'm impressed.
I do still worry that the ability of the enemy to take prisoners of young women will make people more squeamish when it comes to waging war. How many pundits opined about minorities over-represented in the military? The left will use these pictures in their next propaganda campaign? As resourceful and heroic as she was, some will be tempted to make her the poster girl for more anti-war rhetoric. That would be a disservice to one so brave as her.
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