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Mission to save Private Lynch

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Posted 09 April 2003 - 10:41 AM

By Rodney Dalton, New York correspondent
03apr03

SHORTLY before midnight, US forces took out the lighting grid in Nasiriyah, south of Baghdad, then launched an almighty assault on key targets in the city.

But what might have been just another routine attack - as US forces struck the Baath party headquarters and a bridge - was actually nothing more than a decoy operation. ( Audio: 'Leave no heroes behind')
Amid the chaos in the city's centre, crack special forces, including Delta Force, Navy SEALs and Ranger soldiers, swooped on Saddam Hospital, where the CIA believed 19-year-old supply clerk Private First Class Jessica Lynch was being held as a prisoner of war.

The hospital, described by the US as a military stronghhold, was taken by elite forces who engaged with Iraqi soldiers entering and leaving the compound but not inside, and an injured Private Lynch, listed as missing for more than a week, was stretchered by soldiers to a waiting helicopter and safety.

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks last night detailed the daring raid, saying "it was a classic joint operation by some of our nation's finest warriors who are dedicated to never leaving a comrade behind".

The 163cm Private Lynch, from Palestine, West Virginia, was among several US soldiers taken captive or killed on March 23 when their maintenance convoy was ambushed by Iraqi forces after taking a wrong turn near Nasiriyah.

Five of the captives, although not Private Lynch, were shown on Iraqi television alongside the bloodied bodies of at least four US soldiers.

Captain Jay La Rossa, from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said yesterday that Private Lynch had two broken legs and one broken arm, but was stable and in good condition. She also had reportedly suffered at least one gunshot wound.

Brigadier-General Brooks said the remains of 11 as yet unidentified people were also found in the hospital, two in a morgue and nine in graves in the grounds.

Captain La Rossa said Americans were found but their identities were not known. However, it was thought they were among those ambushed with Private Lynch's group.For US troops and the Bush administration, Private Lynch's rescue was a morale-booster. She was initially listed as missing in action but on Tuesday was re-listed as a PoW.

For her West Virginia home town, it was better than the Fourth of July.

After Brigadier-General Brooks revealed that a PoW had been rescued without naming the soldier, it didn't take long for word to get around the small town of Palestine that the soldier was one of their own.

Palestine is where Greg and Deadra Lynch raised their three children, all of whom turned to the military as a ladder to a better life. Neighbours gathered outside the Lynch home to celebrate. Fireworks were lit and the sound of car horns rang throughout the night.

Mr Lynch, wearing a yellow ribbon, told CNN he was too "joyous" to talk when he heard the news of his daughter's rescue.

Private Lynch had wanted to be a teacher but she was realistic about her prospects. Mr Lynch, a truck driver, said money was tight.

"We might have been able to pay for college, but it would have been tough," he said. "The army offered her what she wanted." So when the recruiting officers came calling, Private Lynch answered the call of duty knowing she would go places, get an education and then return home to teach and raise a family in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains.

Private Lynch signed on for another four years before shipping out to the Gulf. Within days of her convoy's ambush, the army listed two of Private Lynch's party as dead, five as PoWs, and eight, including Private Lynch, as missing in action.

As they waited for some word, Private Lynch's friends tied yellow ribbons around trees and telephone poles. Mr Lynch went on believing his daughter, described as tough for her size, was hiding out.

But she had been wounded, and the Iraqis took her to the hospital for treatment.

The CIA, which has been pinpointing targets in Iraq, passed on the location to US Central Command.

A special operations rescue team was sent to get her out.

Regards,

Scott Drake
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