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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2003)
STAIt THE BATTAL® is on iaut$ tragedy, so they &■ it and said, 'We’rc .) have to come up wit to recognize it in ili ,iy,” Aiello said, addins league already hast* ive discussions wit to figure out how tods space program ahead; )art of the 2004 Stipe: ndscape by virtue of tit signed official logo, tixes old west-style let i two stars, a Satum-li 1 another, more /n Husband, widow of commander i, said Houston's set ter Bowl shouldn’t )y the sadness of tk i. ■e living every day fc stence where there aie at we very much enjo; estive, but we are fil ness as well, and h Super Bowl will be no ,” Husband said. “It e a real blessing fot •ay a tribute to the ere#, y because we’re herein But that doesn’t mean game shouldn’t be fra houldn’t be festive, ly, it should be.” WORLD THE BATTALION Thursday, June 19, 2003 death penalty if der count, was also in the Itviitj vas abducted in Aptil dnesday morning, pros- recovered from Crist/s rely to Bednarek. Thef ds and relatives wh night of the crimeweit ning News reported it ay. WILLIAM BOOTH • THE WASHINGTON POST Nurse Khalida Shnan said American Jessica Lynch was “crying all the time." Shnan wept when describing bow she tried to comfort Lynch by singing to her at night. Three months later More clues unearthed in Lynch’s rescue (espt as can nent! ipted h limits! ji§J By Dana Priest, William Booth and Susan Schmidt THE WASHINGTON POST Jessica Lynch, the most famous soldier of the war, remains in a private room at the end of a hall on an upper floor of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, her door guarded by a military police officer. To repair the fractures, a spinal injury and other injuries suffered during her ordeal, the 20-year-old private first class undergoes a daily round of physical therapy. But she does so alone, during the lunch hours, when other patients are not admitted. Her father, Greg Lynch Sr., wearing a fresh T-shirt each day with a yellow ribbon pinned to his chest, rarely leaves her side, except to sleep at night. Lynch has been in the hospital now for fd days. Her physical condition remains severe. But she also appears to suffer from wounds that cannot be seen — and the story of her capture and rescue remains only partly told. Her family says she doesn’t remember anything about her capture. U.S. military sources say she is unable — or unwilling — to say much about anything that happened to her between the morning her Army unit was ambushed and when she became hilly conscious sometime later at Saddam Hussein General Hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq. As the world would remem ber, Lynch and her Army mainte nance unit were ambushed in southern Iraq on the morning of March 23. Eleven of her fellow soldiers were killed; five others were taken captive and later freed. Blond and waiflike, Lynch was taken prisoner and held separately for nine days before a dramatic nighttime rescue from her hospi tal bed by a covert U.S. Special Operations unit. Task Force 20. Initial news reports, including those in The Washington Post, which cited unnamed U.S. offi cials with access to intelligence reports, described Lynch empty ing her M-16 into Iraqi soldiers. The intelligence reports from intercepts and Iraqi informants said that Lynch fought fiercely, was stabbed and shot multiple times, and that she killed several of her assailants. “She was fighting to the death,” one of the officials was quoted as saying. “She did not want to be taken alive.” It became the story of the war, boosting morale at home and among the troops. It was irre sistible and cinematic, the mainte nance clerk turned woman-war rior from the hollows of West Virginia who just wouldn’t quit. Hollywood promised to make a movie and the media, too, were hungry for heroes. Lynch’s story is far more com plex and different than those ini tial reports. The Capture Lynch tried to fire her weapon, but it jammed, according to mili tary officials familiar with the Army investigation. She did not kill any Iraqis. She was neither shot nor stabbed, they said. Lynch’s unit, the 507th Maintenance Company, was ambushed outside Nasiriyah after taking several wrong turns. Army investigators believe this hap pened in part because superiors never passed on word that the long 3rd Infantry Division col umn that the convoy was follow ing had been rerouted. At times, the 507th was 12 hours behind the main column and frequently out of radio contact. a The doctors are reasonably sure that she does not know what happened to her. 99 — Kiki Bryant Army spokesman Lynch was riding in a Humvee when it plowed into a jackknifed U.S. truck. She suf fered major injuries, including multiple fractures and compres sion to her spine, that knocked her unconscious, military sources said. The collision killed or gravely injured the Humvee’s four other passengers. Two U.S. officials with knowledge of the Army investi gation said Lynch was mistreated by her captors. They would not elaborate. Tipped that Lynch was inside Saddam Hussein General Hospital in Nasiriyah, the CIA, fearing a trap, sent an agent into the facility with a hidden camera to confirm she was there, intelli gence sources said. The Special Operations unit’s full-scale rescue of the private, while justified given the uncer tainty confronting the U.S. forces as they entered the compound, ultimately was proven unneces sary. Iraqi combatants had left the hospital almost a day earlier, leav ing Lynch in the hands of doctors and nurses who said they were eager to turn her over to Americans. Neither the Pentagon nor the White House publicly dispelled the more romanticized initial ver sion of her capture, helping to foster the myth surrounding Lynch and fuel accusations that the Bush administration staged- managed parts of Lynch’s story. Only Lynch is in position to know everything that happened to her — and she may not ever be able to tell the story. “The doctors are reasonably sure,” said Army spokesman Kiki Bryant, “that she does not know what happened to her.” ‘ Miscommunication ’ The 18 Humvees, trailers and tow trucks of Lynch’s 507th Maintenance Company were the tail end of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 8,000-vehicle convoy snaking its way from Kuwait to Baghdad. A Patriot missile main tenance crew by training, the members of the 507th based at Fort Bliss, Texas, were assigned to keep the Army’s war machine moving. The initial plan called for moving north on “Route Blue,” Highway 8, until the southern outskirts of Nasiriyah, according to military officials. Because the city was still teeming with enemy fighters, commanders decided to reroute the column to “Route Jackson,” Highway 1, which skirted around the town to the south and west. But the 507th never got word of the change. The miscommunication hap pened, in part, Army investigators believe, because a battalion com mander in the 3rd Forward Support Battalion to which it was attached never made sure the 507th had received word of the route change. “They didn’t know about Route Jackson,” said one senior military officer briefed on the investigators’ findings. “We believe it would have never hap pened if the proper procedure had been followed.” No disciplinary action is expected, said the offi cial, who attributed the tragedy to the fog of war. The unit fell behind as the enormous wrecking tractors and cargo trailers — equipment to haul other giant Army vehicles and supplies — tried to adjust to the division’s changing pace. But other mishaps contributed. Long before they reached Nasiriyah, two of the 507th’s 5- ton trailers had broken down, forcing the back half of the unit — 18 vehicles in all — to fall fur- See Lynch on page 6 ' Comb One! Come All! Come early! "W' — Starting Times— lyes Wed-Thur-Sat Friday Sunday 6:45 6:45 & 9:00 7:15 8,9:00 6:00 8,8:00 EXPERIENCE THE thrill of winning Large Non-Smoking RoomT ' Dm Prizes •Great Food •Securtiy* Poll Tabs and Much More! Due to recent changes, no one under 18 is allowed to enter Over $30,000 Won Each Week If You Have Something To Sell, Remember: Classifieds Can Do It Ca// 845-0569 The Battalion WHY BOTHER WITH PARKING WHEN YOU CAN WALK TO TAMU? Now Pre-Leasing! 2 & 3 Bedrooms for lease Our Facilities Include: • 24-hour emergency maintenance • Large Closets • Ceiling fans and mini-blinds • Beautiful bay windows Northgate at the Corner of Nagle & Cherry (979) 846-2173 V ‘Directory Adventist Seventh Day Adventist 1218 Ettle St., Bryan (corner of Coulter) 775-4362 Pastor Bill Davis Saturday 8:15am- Spanish Worship English - 11:00 am Sabbath School - 9:45 am www.bryansdachurch.com ‘Baptisit Parkway Baptist Church 1501 Southwest Pkwy (979) 693-4701 Sunday Worship 8:15 10:45 & 6PM Sunday School 9:30 AM Wednesday: Meal 5:30PM College Bible Study Wed. 6:30PM www.pbccs.org First Baptist Church UNIVERSITY MINISTRY 2300 Welsh Ave. • College Station SUNDAY: 8:30 & 10:55-Worship Services 9:45-Bible Study 6:00 p.m.-Graduates and Professionals Bible Study WEDNESDAY: 6:00 p.m.-Summer Book Club Ty Cope, University Minister ty@fbccollegestation.com * 764-1353 CatfioRc St. Mary’s Catholic Center 603 Church Avenue in Northgate (979)846-5717 www.aaaiecatholic.org Pastoral Team Rev. Michael J. Sis, Pastor Rev. Keith Koehl, Associate Pastor - Campus Ministers - Deacon Bill Scott, Deacon David Reed, Martha Tonn, Jullie Mendonca Dawn Rouen, Roel Garza Daily Masses Mon.-Fri.: 5:30 p.m. in the Church Weekend Masses Sat: 2:00 p.m. (Korean), 5:30 p.m. (English), 7:00 p.m. (Spanish) Sun.: 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 7:00 p.m. Confessions Wed. 8:30-9:30 p.m., Sat. 4:00-5:15 p.m. or by appointment. Cfinstian First Christian Church 900 South Ennis, Bryan 823-5451 Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Morning Worship 10:45 a.m. Robert D. Chandler, Minister Cfurcfi of Cfirist A&M Church of Christ 1901 Harvey Mitchell Pkwy. (979)693-0400 Sunday Assemblies: 8 a.m., 10:30 a.m., College Bible Class 9:30 a.m. Sunday Night: 5:45 p.m. Mid-Week 8:30 p.m. Aggies for Christ Call for on-campus pick-up info www.aggiesforchrist.org ‘Episcopad St. Thomas Episcopal 906 George Bush Dr. • College Station, IX 696-1726 Services - 8:00 (Rite 1) 10:00 (Family Service Rite II) Next door to Canterbury House, : the Episopal Student Center Methodist A&M United Methodist 417 University Dr. (in Northgate) • 846-8731 Sunday Worship: 8:30, 9:45, 10:50 College Sunday School: 9:30,10:45 Sr. Pastor Dr. Jerry Neff www.am-umc.org 9{pn-‘DenommationaC Calvary Chapel AGGIELAND A Non-denominational church that teaches God’s Word verse by verse. Contemporary praise & worship Come as you are - casual atmosphere Currently meeting at: Still Creek Christian School 6055 Hearne Rc/., Bryan Huy. 21 Hast, look for the signs We’re studying the Book of Acts Services at 10:30 a.m. Sunday Pastor Jeff Hughes ‘95 (979)324-3972 www.aggieland.ee Odpn-tDenominationaC com m unityCHU RCH SUNDAYS: Prayer Service @10 a.m. Worship @ 11 a.m. Now Meeting in Northgate College Main & Church St. at the Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) building Small Groups This Summer: Tues. Nights "Don't Just GOto Church!" wwwX»mCHURCH.com 260-1163 tPentecostod Cornerstone Church ■ On Campus College Bible Study held weekly • Sunday Service at 3:00pm Meets at College Station Conference Center (George Bush Drive) 485-8744 7'' Victory ’’'St United Pentecostal Church Sunday 2:00 p.m. Wednesday 7:00 p.m. 1808 - H Brothers (behind the C.S. Wal-Mart) 764-4180 tPreshyterion Covenant Presbyterian Church 220 Rock Prairie Road (979) 694-7700 Rev. Sam W. Steele - Pastor Sunday Service: 8:30 & 11 a.m. Sunday School: 9:45 a.m. Students Welcome www.covenantpresbyterlan.org FIRST I PRESBYTERIAN f CHURCH k— I Helping Aggies grow in faith ft Worship 10:00 a.m. 1 Church School 9:00 ■ Fellowship on the Patio 11 a.m. f 1100 Carter Creek Parkway www.fpcbryan.org To advertise on this page call The Battalion today! 845-2696 J