NYT: From Picture of Pride to Symbol of Abuse

FORT ASHBY, W.Va., May 6 — For weeks, the Mineral County courthouse has proudly displayed the photographs of local soldiers stationed in Iraq along the stairway at its front entrance. "We're hometown proud," the banner said.

But in the last few days, one photograph was taken down, that of Pfc. Lynndie R. England, whose face has become famous for a painfully different reason.

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In one image, Private England is clenching a cigarette between her teeth while giving a thumbs-up in front of naked Iraqi prisoners. In another that became public on Thursday, she is holding a leash attached to a naked prisoner's neck.

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After high school, she worked at a chicken-processing plant and at the nearby IGA supermarket. Then, in March 2002, on what seemed almost like a whim to some of her friends, she married an old friend who worked with her at the supermarket, James L. Fike. The couple were divorced, though they remain on friendly terms, Mrs. England said in interviews this week.

"It was like, one day, she was just married," Mrs. Shoemaker-Davis said. "She walked up to me at the 7-Eleven and said, `See what I did.' They had just gone to the courthouse and did it."

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http://nytimes.com/2004/05/07/national/07SOLD.html?hp