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WORLD
THE BATTALION
Thursday, June 19, 2003
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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
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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
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Large Non-Smoking RoomT
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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
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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
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