Jessica Lynch tells Congress what really happened to her in Iraq.

Source: Newsweek

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What was the greatest misinformation about you?

The whole Rambo story, that I went down fighting. It just wasn’t the truth.

So what really happened?

I didn’t even get a shot off. My weapon had jammed. And I didn’t even get to fire. A rocket-propelled grenade hit the back of our (Humvee), which made Lori (Piestewa), my friend, lose control of the vehicle, and we slammed into the back of another truck in our unit.

Who is to blame for spreading the misinformation?

Well, I think really the military and the media. The military, for not setting the record straight and the media for spreading it, and not seeking the true facts. They just ran with it instead of waiting until the facts were straightened out.

What do you hope Congress achieves with today’s hearing?

I hope it (helps) the Tillman family get the accurate information that they deserve. They need to know what happened to their son and why they were lied to.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18297391/site/newsweek/

for the bogus "official" version of her story. Bless her.

Or the real deal? I didn't watch it.

but from what I read, it was the "official" story or a slightly diluted version of it.

She's matured into a very attractive young woman and frankly, I'm surprised we haven't seen here exploited more than she already has already been.

Check this out, Murdock is till exploiting her.

The article is mainly about Pat Tillman's angry brother Kevin, but check out the picture they use. They do the old "distract the audience with the pretty blond" trick.

<http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21618305-1702,00.html>

That's what I was gonna say. :evilgrin:

remember gow they slimed her after she denied the official reports. Saying she had been raped while under Iraqi care. Wonder who dreamed that 1 up.

...to power.

Gods bless her.

Hekate

been the wiser.

Her action helps to bring justice to all of those who need it.

but she is MY kind of heroine. K&R

IMO that beats the bejeezus out of the Rambolina story.

I admire her even more now, for being so modest and straightforward. Nobody could have blamed her if she decided she never wanted to appear in front of a camera again. But she wanted to support Pat Tillman's family.

My belief is that when they passed out the decency, Jessica got enough to make up for the entire Bush administration.

Many people would have STFU, especially after the government isolated her from her family. A 19-year-old kid has more guts than almost everyone in Congress.

She's a brave lady who has overcome alot, and who kept her promises to her best friend.

As an aside: Lori's tribe has made Jessica an official member, btw (I believe Hopi).

The Lynches are a simple, working class, Christian family, that still believes in telling the truth.

Jessica showed a lot of class today!

Kudos to all of them!

Jessica Lynch is one class act!!!

She approached Extreme Home Makeover about giving Lori's parents a home (they are raising Lori's kids) AND building a museum to honor all Native Americans who have served in the military. She made them promise to keep her out of the show as much as possible, since it was for Lori. It made me cry when Lori's mother greeted "Jessie" -- she considers Jessica Lynch her daughter. Lynch has also set up a college fund for Lori's children.

She and Lori swore to each other to help one another's families if either of them died.

Jessica Lynch kept her word.

I think my mom and I went through an entire box of kleenex that night.

That girl is such a class act. We need more of her in the world.

And FYI, she'll turn 24 this Thursday. :)

Do you feel like this is a pattern, misinformation from the military?

Well, it kind of seems like that’s the way it’s been happening.


Yup!

Thankfully it's finally being checked.

That had to be very difficult for her, what a brave young lady!!

How far would the military have gotten in the whole stinking Iraqapalooza campaign, if not for our detestable lap-dog media?

I mean, well Congress had asked, but it was for the Tillmans' benefit; that is a fine, noble reason for speaking out in a very straightforward, above board manner that isn't in any way a method of seeking fame for herself. She passed on that. So, I have great respect here for what she did it, how she did it and why.

and she could have so easily have accepted the story they made up for her. But a TRUE patriot and a REAL hero doesn't and wouldn't do that. Here's to Jessica: :patriot:

She was also the first Native American woman killed in combat. Correct me, though, if I am wrong about that.

IIRC, there was a mountain called Squaw Peak that was recently renamed Piestewa Peak. The term squaw, of course, is considered a derogatory term for a woman by most Native Americans. Perhaps we can change all such place names to honor Native/First American women.

--p!

Both facts and opinion!

(I'll bet my own biting commentary on the topic is archived here somewhere)

But this woman is a person of integrity in every sense of the word. She could have been a Loyal Bushie, they were essentially offering her millions of endorsement $$$$ and the endless talk-show and lecture circuit...lifetime financial security...if she would just she up and play ball.

Many would have. Lifetime financial security, just for keeping one's mouth shut, is a hard thing to turn down.

But she did.

I salute you, Jessica Lynch, who tried to tell the truth almost from the first moment she could speak of it. And who WOULD have been heard except for the cacophonous carnival that is the MSM and the Bush Party Sub-Media.

"Bush Administration Memory Loss". She actually claimed to have amnesia rather than tell the truth before the myth could be born. She blames the military and the media, but she doesn't blame herself for keeping her mouth shut.

She never kept her mouth shut, nor did her father. He was on TV from day one slagging the Bushies. Jessica Lynch was kept isolated in the hospital for a long time -- even her family couldn't visit her.

She DOES have "amnesia." She remembers the accident and firefight remembers Lori dying on the ER table next to her, and then nothing for a while. People who have been in traumatic car accidents kinda do that, you know. The MILITARY told her she had been raped, but she hs NEVER said it happened. All she's done is say how well ten Iraqis treated her, and how they tried to return her to the US troops. She refused to cooperate with the stupid TV movie or any type of press tour. She wrote a book to earn money for a fund set up for children whose parents died in Iraq, and to help raise Loris' kids. She helped get Lori's parents a nice house.

Seriously, you need to educate yourself about Ms. Lynch before criticizing her courageous and selfless actions.

where Shoshana Johnson, who was held prisoner for awhile, was captured? I know that the news was always about Jessica Lynch, but I saw Ms. Johnson on T,V, when she was being held captive, and I can remember how much I wanted to be able to comfort her. She looked so shaken, and frightened. I guess black prisoners aren't as newsworthy as blonde heroines, even if the accounts of her bravery were concocted by the military for reasons of propaganda.:sarcasm:

her family was really upset with bush (back when that was not cool) so that is another reason they didn't want to talk about her. No doubt the fact that she wasn't blond played a roll as well.

It was the same attack, yes.

When Lynch heard about how Johnson was treated, she came out publicly for her, which put the military into a spot. They were both honored later that year at a women's award ceremony.

I would have be overjoyed to see someone like her report for duty in any of my commands. She is a sharp, motivated individual who clearly, from both her strong friendships and her actions during this entire fiasco, adds to the strength of an organization. She's one of those servicemembers who enhances unit cohesion, motivates others, sets a wonderful example and she also has a strong sense of justice.

What more could anyone want?

I remember seeing Shoshana when she was being held captive, and I could see how frightened she was. Later, after Jessica Lynch was rescued, I kept waiting for follow-ups on Shoshan Johnson, but could find almost nothing. It's to the Lynch family's credit that they helped the neglected young lady.

Google doesn't turn anything up about this, or about Johnson's family's opposition to the war.

But what a horrible price J. Lynch and the Tillman family have paid and will pay. Shameful, shameful treatment for patriotic souls.

We need to pin a medal on this young woman. It would have been so easy for her to keep silent. I don't know many of any gender or nationality who would have had the intestinal fortitude to expose the lies the way she did today.

for truth telling. The Jessica and Tillman testimony was sad but necessary. Kucinich and Reid have made life a lot more uncomfortable for bush/cheney, et al. The House and the Senate floor is full of good speeches by the Democrats, if only the media would report some of what goes on there. Oh well. This has been a very good day! Truth is getting out there and we can thank some of our party leaders, for a change. They are definitely responding with some nifty sharp rebuttals.

She should be very proud of herself for speaking out and speaking the truth.

Here's the committee website with video and testimony of others:
http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1242

Here is some of Jessica Lynch's written testimony, she had serious injuries, had been sexually assaulted and still has physical troubles.



During her spoken testimony, she advised that the US could have "rescued" her a day sooner
from the hospital, but they were busy getting their camera crews etc together so they
could film it as a big documentary.

The Iraqi medical personnel who saved her life said she definitely was NOT raped in any way. Since they were the first responders, so to speak, I believe them, especially since their actions towards Lynch were totally professional and honorable. As per Lynch's own testimony.

Seriously, my mom (a nurse) said a sexual assault when she was in that condition would have killed her.

assaulted. If she had been it would have to be in that brief, trauma-induced amnesiac period immediately after the attack. She has no direct knowledge of any sexaul assault at any later point.

How likely is it that doctors would find evidence of sexual assault ten days after the incident?

:patriot:

If her testimony is paving the way for the real/whole story about Pat Tillman.....let us also remember that 4 guys from Ms. Lynch's "rescue squad" are now dead. There is a lot of truth that needs to be told about THOSE guys as well.

some of us still find the truth sexy

Most DUer's knew at the time that the story didn't add up, and the fact that they only released "excerpts" of the heroic rescue only added to these doubts.

The fact that Jessica Lynch seemed to adopt a "no comment" attitude also frustrated many at the time - but now seems a clever position for her to take. If she had immediately called the Army & media out on the BS, they would have decried her as unpatriotic and probably mentally unbalanced by her ordeal and swept her under the carpet.

Maybe she realised that things go in cycles, and decided to keep her powder dry until the grown-ups were getting back some power in Washington.

The fact that the Bush regime tried their very best to turn her into a poster girl makes her testimony all the more potent now. Well done to her.

I await the REAL Jessica Lynch TV-Movie with great interest........

maybe we should all do this?

I've never heard this tidbit before. Kinda makes us look foolish. I suppose it is possible that the Iraqis were lying to her, but I tend to think it is true if she believed it...

That is much too kind.

testimony that US forces were firing upon ambulances. I remember during the razing of Fallujah, when people mentioned that US forces were shooting ambulances everyone was saying "No, no, we're the good guys, we don't shoot ambulances." Well, there it is, in her very own words.

You beat me to it.

The worst travesty of this is that the Bush administration claimed that Jessica Lynch had been raped and treated badly by her "captors." When she was able to speak she immediately started saying that they had treated her well.

The entire "rescue" by Marines was a totally unnecessary photo-op and part of the disinformation campaign. The Iraqis provided her with medical care and left her in the hospital to be found by U.S. soldiers. They tried to return her.

Contrast THAT with the way that U.S. troops have treated Iraqis in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. It's another shameful aspect of this story.

started getting a little reportage.

The story came from one of the doctors who had treated her;
he claimed he had spent some time trying to tell the US where
she was, and he also told the story of actually putting her
in an ambulance to deliver her to the US forces, but turning
around after some "warning fire" from a checkpoint.

the public orchestration of the fake story about her was as despicable as the cover-up of the real Tillman story. And perhaps even more important for people to hear, and not disappear into the memory hole, like the fake toppling of the SH statue and goddess knows what else has been put out there as "real" by the supine media.

That about sums up the state of the media today. :(

She's more a hero now than before. I salute her.

That shows incredible bravery. To sit in front of congress and tell the story that goes against the official version your own government tried to tell.

:patriot:

Who would have thought?

:eyes:

It's good to see the real truth survives and still finds its way out - even these days in our media-engineered mass culture where subjectivity trumps fact. This is a hopeful sign that these hearings are happening so publicly. I'd love to see a "sea-change" in public values where providing the most thorough and detailed presentation of fact brings in the ratings and revenue.

Hey, they just discovered the first potentially habitable super-earth exo-planet!

More and more anything's possible.

:hippie:

I only saw bits of yesterday's testimony. Like most normal people I felt rage at the military and the administration for what they have done to promote their occupation. Jessica was expected to be a cheerleader for the administration and refused the role. I can't even express my outrage at what was done to the Tillman family. Unfortunately, I have become so cynical that I don't think we will have the right answers until the neocons are run out of the country for good.

"I can't even express my outrage at what was done to the Tillman family."

Same thing goes for what they did to Ms. Lynch and her family too.

What I haven't heard much about is the fact that these manipulations and outright lies about the events involving these two soldiers (and many more, we can be sure) is that their ordeals and the trauma they experienced as a result of those events were made far worse by what Bu$hCo did as they exploited the troops!

Jessica was so badly injured and traumatized by the incident on the battlefield in which she was involved that she has suffered partial amnesia and has a lifetime of physical and emotional suffering to deal with now. Heaven knows that would be difficult enough!

But couple to the basic story what Bu$hCo added to her burden, and my outrage soars beyond all description! She was unable to talk for awhile, so she could not even begin to tell what she did remember of her experiences. That's bad, but then the "heroine-creators" who wrote their own script of lies about the events made sure she was not allowed to speak freely (if at all) with her family and others who might have revealed the truth about what happened to her.

Because this went on for quite a while, Ms. Lynch was forced to endure a situation where she was deprived of visits by her family and loved ones at a time when she most needed their care and support!

I feel the Bu$h Lie Machine took advantage of the seriousness of her injuries to prevent the truth getting out from her own lips -- or her family's, had she been allowed to tell them. They boxed her in with a story of heroism that put her in a terrible position. For a courageous but humble young soldier, no matter what her gender, it had to be a nightmare that she couldn't put an end to!

This heinous exploitation of such a good soldier who'd been so severely wounded is just beyond the pale, and what they did to her by using her in this way was to aggravate and probably prolong her recovery and healing -- probably by a LOT.

I feel certain the same idea applies in the Tillman case, though of course the specific events were quite different. Bu$hCo exploited him and them, and the family suffered a great deal more than was inevitable by the fact of their loss of their loved one.

How unholy and unforgivable can you get? Take truly brave troops who endured and lost so much in service to their country, and add a heaping helping of EXTRA trauma by lying and staging, aggravating and expanding -- and extending -- their suffering!

:mad: :grr: :mad: :grr: :mad:

A truly courageous, brave and wonderful person whose dedication to truth and honesty should serve as an inspiration throughout the globe

has me in tears, which is kind of embarrassing since I'm sitting in a coffee shop in the Dells, catching up on my 'net while on vacation.

When she was this rambo-type hero fighting it out until the last minute with her trusty gun, she was promoted as everything that was 'good & true' with the war even though the whole story was pretty much just made up.

Now that she is not only telling the truth but telling it under oath in front of a House Committee lead by a democrat (Waxman) freepers are probably calling her every horrible name in the book.

When she had a child "out of wedlock" and didn't marry the father of her baby.

Talk about screwed up priorities.

army man,lady I am so damn proud of you.

I have something for you.

:spank:

Jessica Lynch may not be a hero, but she is heroic.

I remember reading, from DU as I recall, a poster with a military background responding to the incident as it was reported in detail, saying, with some skepticism, that it was amazing Lynch could accomplish all that was reported considering the extent of her injuries. That would be an interesting thread to review, to find out how the information was getting out. However, archives only goes back to Apr. 2004.

Right now it says there is too high a volume logged on, to try again later.

YEARS ago. Not a single bit of this comes as a surprise to any of us who were reading those threads.

That is one brave girl, to go up there to congress and call the military and the media liars -- especially after the TV movies and parades and stuff.

Standing up for the truth is what real patriotism is all about. You go girl.

The bush military..I can't believe any military man or woman with a conscience would do this.

Our corporatemedia owned and operated by karl rove and rupert murdock is the main source of disinformation in the USA.

The bushits are so fucking crooked the cmw couldn't even stop November 2006!

president bush heard that he was getting "lynched" by this story, and...
ohoh here it is... the new spin...

"and that's when dick and i landed in the 'copter and pulled jessica from the burning vehicle. she was delusional, and still may be, but let me refresh everybodys memories--- i was piloting a'aircraft heading for a photo-op, when i heard from god that w-man was needed in iraq, that one of my soldiers was in danger. unafraid, i tightened my codpiece and put the pedal to the medal. dick was my copilot that day, over macho-grande. usually jesus is my copilot, but i needed someone i could trust, i just looked down and there was dick. i call him dick because, well, its like a 7-11 guy named cashier. anyway, we swooped down, sort of tom-cruise-style, i was tom, dick was goose, and saved that soldier jessica--- don't listed to her, i think the events of the day mismangled her thinking."

ok... i feel safer

do we not know?

what will it take for ppl to just turn off corp news