Jessica Lynch

I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and try to make me a legend, when the real heroics — of my fellow soldiers that day — were legendary.

Jessica Dawn Lynch (born 26 April 1983) is a former Quartermaster Corps Private First Class (PFC) in the United States Army, who became famous as a prisoner of war of the Iraqi military in the 2003 invasion of Iraq who was rescued by United States forces on 1 April 2003.

Quotes

• I'm not about to take credit for something I didn't do.
  • On reports of her fighting fiercely until captured. She was actually unconscious because of her injuries in a rocket grenade explosion and subsequent vehicle crash. BBC News (7 November 2003)

Congressional testimony (2007)

Testimony to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (24 April 2007)

• I lived the war in Iraq, and today I still have family and friends fighting in Iraq. My support for our troops is unwavering. I believe this is not a time for finger-pointing, it is a time for truth — the whole truth— vs. hype, and misinformation.

• I was given opportunities not extended to my fellow soldiers, I embraced those opportunities to set the record straight.

• I had a story tell, a story that needed to be told so that people would know the truth.

• The nurses at the hospital tried to soothe me, and they even tried unsuccessfully at one point to return me to Americans.

• A group came to the hospital to rescue me. I could hear them speaking in English but I was still very afraid. Then a soldier came into the room. He tore the American flag from his uniform and he handed it to me in my hand. And he told me "We're American soldiers, and we're here to take you home."
  And I looked at him and I said "Yes, I am an American soldier too."

• When I remember those difficult days, I remember the fear, I remember the strength, I remember that hand of that fellow American soldier, reassuring me that I was going to be okay.

• Tales of great heroism were being told... at my parents home in Wirt County, West Virginia, it was understaged by media all repeating the story of the "little girl Rambo" from rural West Virginia who went down fighting.
  It was not true.

The truth of war is not always easy. The truth is always more heroic than the hype.

• I have repeatedly said, when asked, that if the stories about me helped inspired our troops and rally a nation, then perhaps there was some good. However, I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and try to make me a legend, when the real heroics — of my fellow soldiers that day — were legendary.

• The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own heroes — ideals for heroes — and they don't need to be told elaborate lies.

• My hero is every American who says "My country needs me" and answers that call to fight. I had the good fortune and opportunity to come home and to tell the truth; many soldiers, like Pat Tillman... did not have that opportunity. The truth of war is not always easy. The truth is always more heroic than the hype.
  • Her final statement has also been quoted in news reports as "The truth of war is not always easy to hear but it is always more heroic than the hype".