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Shoshanna's Visit To Greensboro Nc.

#1 User is offline   jessefan 

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Posted 13 September 2004 - 10:48 AM

I'm posting this because of the quotes from Shoshanna. But the writer implies that Rick Bragg's book does not reflect what Miss Lynch wanted to say. That is conjecture.


http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellit...s=1037645509163

Her Story: Ex-POW's words underscore complexity of war

By John Railey
JOURNAL COLUMNIST


Shoshana Johnson's visit to Greensboro Tuesday couldn't have been more timely.

The former Army cook who made worldwide headlines when she was taken prisoner by Iraqis last year visited the Gate City the same day John Kerry was there talking about how wrong President Bush was about the war. She visited the same day the American death toll in the Iraq War rose over 1,000, with most of those killed since Bush declared an end to major combat. And she visited just days before the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks that preceded the war.

Johnson's words about some of those issues reminded me just how gray these subjects are for many Americans, no matter how much many other Americans try to paint the issues in black and white.

Johnson, 31, has mixed feelings on key issues even as loud voices from the left and loud ones from the right try to drag her to their side. But her story, of course, is just a little bit different because of who she is.

Just as they have with her fellow company member Jessica Lynch, who was also taken prisoner, many have tried to make Johnson a symbol, albeit one of a different sort. Lynch is white and Johnson's black - the first black female POW of the war and the only one in U.S. war history. Many blacks have contended that Johnson is a symbol of blacks getting the shaft because she got neither the attention nor the disability pay Lynch did.

But the way Johnson tells it, that's all a crock of latrine leavings. "A big controversy was drummed up out of nothing," she said. "I just think they (the media) like to compare too much."

Johnson, who spoke as part of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Human Rights Week, is blunt about her feelings, mixed and otherwise. And while the shy Lynch lost control of her story, first to the military myth machine and then to star writer Rick Bragg, Johnson retains control of hers. She doesn't tell it through a book, but through nationwide speaking engagements.

She's from El Paso, Texas, a home girl who'd probably rather be working in her rose garden and playing with her 4-year-old daughter. She's also a natural speaker, punctuating stories about the nauseous feeling she got riding to war with jokes about beauty products she carried to the front line. As she talked in a press conference and speech, her own conflicted feelings bubbled.

She's tired of hearing about troops killed and wants them all to come to home. Then she adds, "But what if we don't accomplish something, what was the point?"

She encourages folks to vote, but won't say whom she likes for president. She does say she likes the first President Bush better than his son, especially the elder's handling of that first war in Iraq, the one Johnson's father fought in. "We were in and out of there so fast," she said.

She likes some aspects of the son's handling of the war, but doesn't like other aspects. "I mean, I got caught!" she said.

After she and several fellow soldiers were ambushed in March 2003, they were held prisoner for three weeks. Another contradiction: Although her captors weren't always kind to the male soldiers with her, she said, they were generally compassionate toward her, even to the point of caring for the bullet wound in her ankle and injuries to her legs as best they could. The sad thing, she said, was that her captors treated her better than Americans at Abu Ghraib treated their Iraqi prisoners. Those Americans need to be punished, she said.

Marines freed Johnson and her fellow captives. Lynch, who was held at another location, had already been liberated. The brass was making a big deal of it. "They were so happy to get her, I guess they were trying to cover up the fact that they didn't know where the rest of us were," Johnson said.

Some reporters played up the fact that Lynch got 80-percent disability payments while Johnson was getting only 30-percent ones. The Rev. Jesse Jackson went to bat for Johnson, arguing that she should be getting higher payments as well. Johnson says she now gets 50-percent disability payments, and hopes to get that percentage increased.

But Johnson said that fight has nothing to do with Lynch, with whom she shares memories of captivity and the loss of fellow soldiers. Both women received numerous medals.

Lynch's physical injuries were more extensive than Johnson's. But Johnson, who was held longer, said she struggles with memories of her time in captivity. "I still have nightmares and tough days," she said. "I still have a lot of days where I don't feel like leaving the house."

Her future plans are uncertain. She'd like to write her book with some help, she said. "But if they won't do it my way, we ain't doing it."

It will be her story, one shot through with all the red-white-and-blue complexities of a nation at war.


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#2 User is offline   ticker 

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Posted 14 September 2004 - 05:30 AM

QUOTE
She does say she likes the first President Bush better than his son, especially the elder's handling of that first war in Iraq, the one Johnson's father fought in. "We were in and out of there so fast," she said.


She's right about that. Our military is for winning wars, not nation building, something G.W. Bush chided the previous admin. for during the 2000 campaign. Once we took out Saddam, we should have let the Iraqis take charge. If they chose to pass on the opportunity for democracy and re-enslave themselves to religeous or tribal tyrants, they deserve what they get. If another threat to us were to emerge, the Afghanistan and Iraq war phases show that we can topple regimes every month untill they get it right. For the number of KIA we have taken during the occupation, we could have overthrown at least 5 more dictators, either successors in Iraq or elsewhere.

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Posted 14 September 2004 - 09:05 AM

QUOTE (jessefan @ Sep 13 2004, 12:50 PM)


Lynch's physical injuries were more extensive than Johnson's. But Johnson, who was held longer, said she struggles with memories of her time in captivity. "I still have nightmares and tough days," she said. "I still have a lot of days where I don't feel like leaving the house."


"Healing the Unseen Wounds," an article which appeared in ,"Veterans First, a publication of the VA Stars ans Stripes Healthcare network," gives the following symptoms of PTSD. Symptoms may include flashback episodes, nightmares, inability to sleep, being easily irritated, and a feeling of loneliness."

The article goes on to say that "the VA today probably has the most wide-ranging array of services for returning veterans than at any time in its history. Cooperation between VA an DoD has led to a joint study of war reaction and their treatments. We know now that this isn't something you just have to live with. There is hope because that trauma can be treated effectively."
http://www.ncptsd.org/
This link has much information about resources that are available for help in coping with PTSD.
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