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Jessica Lynch returns to her home to West Virginia
Elizabeth (West Virginia), July 23: Jessica Lynch, whose capture and rescue in Iraq turned her into a national sweetheart, spent the first night in her own home since her ordeal, returning to a changed hometown and a shattered anonymity.
Elizabeth (West Virginia), July 23: Jessica Lynch, whose capture and rescue in Iraq turned her into a
national sweetheart, spent the first night in her own home since her ordeal, returning to a changed hometown and a shattered anonymity.
"We're here to see history," said Mary Elder, 52, who was one of 2,000 people who watched Lynch's motorcade slip through Elizabeth. Another supporter, Roszetta Martin, screamed, "welcome home!" as Lynch passed by.
Lynch, a 20-year-old army supply clerk with the 507th Maintenance Company, arrived in West Virginia yesterday aboard a Black Hawk Helicopter and, after speaking to reporters in Elizabeth, rode a red convertible to her family home in Palestine. "It's great to be home," the former POW said softly in her first public appearance. "I'd like to say thank you to everyone who helped and prayed for my return."
Lynch received a standing ovation as she entered the media tent in a wheelchair. She wore a beret and a crisp army dress uniform adorned with medals awarded Monday, including the bronze star and the purple heart.
"I'm proud to be a soldier in the army. I'm proud to have served with the 507th. I'm happy that some soldiers I served with made it home alive. It hurts that some of my company didn't," lynch said. She read a statement thanking American and Iraqi doctors who treated her and mourned Lori Piestewa, a 23-year-old American who died in the same March 23 attack in which Lynch was injured.
Bureau Report
Lynch, a 20-year-old army supply clerk with the 507th Maintenance Company, arrived in West Virginia yesterday aboard a Black Hawk Helicopter and, after speaking to reporters in Elizabeth, rode a red convertible to her family home in Palestine. "It's great to be home," the former POW said softly in her first public appearance. "I'd like to say thank you to everyone who helped and prayed for my return."
Lynch received a standing ovation as she entered the media tent in a wheelchair. She wore a beret and a crisp army dress uniform adorned with medals awarded Monday, including the bronze star and the purple heart.
"I'm proud to be a soldier in the army. I'm proud to have served with the 507th. I'm happy that some soldiers I served with made it home alive. It hurts that some of my company didn't," lynch said. She read a statement thanking American and Iraqi doctors who treated her and mourned Lori Piestewa, a 23-year-old American who died in the same March 23 attack in which Lynch was injured.
Bureau Report