# Why is Jessica Lynch a hero? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 23, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292 "2003-07-23T02:06:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/61 "2003-07-24T04:25:10Z")
Here’s why I have such a problem with this whole discussion: I don’t care about medals. Nobody who signs up does. If we get them, great. If not, it’s no big deal. I think everyone who puts on the uniform is a hero. They volunteer to defend something for others. The medals make no difference to me or anyone else. I think it’s silly to make value judgments about what someone’s particular contribution is worth. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just as important as anybody else’s contibution. Am I going to respect someone who gets the CMH more than Airman Snuffy, the cook? No. The only difference is that one was in a bad situation and they dealt with it appropriately. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/62 "2003-07-24T04:35:32Z")
Airman, I respect your opinion on this matter, but I belive the discussion is mainly about why the media chose her as the “hero” over any other soldier that fought in Iraq, or somehow to be more “heroic” than say her own doctors, or Shoshana Johnson. It really does seem to be based on PR and her being photogenic. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/63 "2003-07-24T04:36:54Z")
Because she’s The Girl Who Lived. > [@](#): > > _Airman Doors_ > I think everyone who puts on the uniform is a hero. They volunteer to defend something for others. I’ll drink to that. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/64 "2003-07-24T11:18:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by UncleBill \* > \*\*And the line I was refuting was And the line I was refuting was > “And then hospital staff are shot and abused for their help during the ‘rescue’.” > anyway. \*\* You are right. There is a big difference between being shot AT and being shot. The Iraqi doctors thought shots were fired, but they were probably only explosives to stun and disorientate. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/65 "2003-07-24T14:17:25Z")
Why is Jessica Lynch a hero but the guy from Indiana who actually STOOD AND FOUGHT until he was killed just so his buddies could get under cover is not a hero? Where are the enormous parades in HIS honor? Where is the big medal ceremony covered by Fox News and CNN for HIM??? Why is she a great hero worthy of massive news coverage but he’s nothing but a forgettable statistic worthy of no more than a mention in the local paper? Why is STANDING AND FIGHTING until the VERY END not worthy? ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/66 "2003-07-24T15:07:50Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by Airman Doors, USAF_ > You people are absolutely unbelievable. > > She got into a bad situation, she fought for her life, was captured, rescued, and returned to health. Now, whether that’s worthy of a medal or not, I don’t know. But I’ll be damned if I’m gonna sit here and say that it was not heroic. > > If this doesn’t fit your definition of heroism, I’d like to see what does. What the fuck else was she meant to do? Sit down and die? Tell the US troops she’d rather not be rescued? If this fits your definition of heroism, I’d like to see what you call someone who did something properly heroic. > [@](#): > > I think everyone who puts on the uniform is a hero. They volunteer to defend something for others. The medals make no difference to me or anyone else. Paraphrased: "I, **Airman Doors** , am a hero. You’d have trouble finding anyone else who’s just doing their job calling themselves a hero. I feel sorry for Ms Lynch. She’s just doing her job and she’s being used for the purposes of propaganda. People don’t deserve that. > [@](#): > > _originally posted by kputt_ > The enemy sees these reports and that prompts them to attack our kids and soldiers even more and with more viciousness. Cite? Are or you just talking out of your arse? ---
**Author:** ![kputt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f475e1/32.png) [@kputt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kputt)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/67 "2003-07-24T15:15:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gex gex \* > \*\*What the fuck else was she meant to do? Sit down and die? Tell the US troops she’d rather not be rescued? If this fits your definition of heroism, I’d like to see what you call someone who did something properly heroic. > Paraphrased: "I, **Airman Doors** , am a hero. > You’d have trouble finding anyone else who’s just doing their job calling themselves a hero. > > I feel sorry for Ms Lynch. She’s just doing her job and she’s being used for the purposes of propaganda. People don’t deserve that. > Cite? Are or you just talking out of your arse? \*\* CNN ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/68 "2003-07-24T17:11:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MLS \* > \*\*Part of the problem here (besides the politics) is terminology. There are several definitions of “hero.” A darn football quarterback can be a hero. As can any person who serves as a role model. Your mom or dad can be your hero for having put up with you, for Pete’s sake. A hero can also be defined as a mythological or legendary person endowed with extraordinary abilities. Or as a person of courage and nobility famed for his military achievements. > > In the sense of a person to be looked up to, I think anyone who volunteers to put himself in danger for the good of others is a hero. \*\* I agree with you in part. One person’s hero is another’s goat. I think someone can be looked up to as a role model without being a hero, but “hero” has much more impact in a news story than “role model”. I think a prime example of the cheapening of this sort of recognition was evidenced in a news story I saw today wherein Resident Bush awarded the nation’s highest civilian award to the guy who founded Wendy’s. _Wendy’s?_ Apparently, you are some sort of hero whether you tirelessly work for the betterment of humanity or produce toxic health hazards helping lead to the bloating of the insurance industry and the detriment of people everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/69 "2003-07-24T17:39:07Z")
I never thought I’d say this, but I completely agree with **Dogface’s** last post up there. Jessica Lynch is a nice kid who is undoubtedly reaping the benefits of being the photogenic icon for the Iraq war, but there are lots of other folks who went to Iraq, endured far worse, and aren’t getting 1/10th of the adulation and attention she’s gotten. But then, the cynic in me simply figures that making a happy young white gal an iconic war figure is a lot easier than trying to explain _why_ we were fighting the war in the first place, especially now that the revelations of nonexistent WMDs and slanted intel is coming to light… ---
**Author:** ![Clucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Clucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clucky)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/70 "2003-07-24T19:29:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*I never thought I’d say this, but I completely agree with **Dogface’s** last post up there. Jessica Lynch is a nice kid who is undoubtedly reaping the benefits of being the photogenic icon for the Iraq war, but there are lots of other folks who went to Iraq, endured far worse, and aren’t getting 1/10th of the adulation and attention she’s gotten. > > But then, the cynic in me simply figures that making a happy young white gal an iconic war figure is a lot easier than trying to explain _why_ we were fighting the war in the first place, especially now that the revelations of nonexistent WMDs and slanted intel is coming to light… \*\* Agreed. And, let’s not forget the nonexistent link to Al Queda, among other things. This was supposedly an offshoot of the war on terrorism. The Jessica Lynch story was manufactured by military P.R. to do what it did, and what it continues to do: Sell the U.S. military conflict. In the original reports, Iraqis were doing bad things to Jessica. Jessica fought back and withstood a great deal of poor treatment. I remember one of my friend’s immediate comments upon hearing the original P.R.-manufactured story: “She was rescued … from a _hospital_?” Anyway, the story would have basically stood the way it was if BBC hadn’t checked much closer and gotten the other side of the story from Iraqi doctors who treated her. Those doctors could have been easily sold as “heroes” too, if the military wanted to focus on the great people of Iraq that we were trying to “liberate.” But, that would have muddied up the story. They wanted “U.S. good, Iraq bad.” Simple message. Sell it with “pretty American girl attacked, fought back, abused and survives with ‘daring’ rescue’.” That’s a story with legs. As to the OP, I really don’t think it’s worth discussing her personally, other than in the context of how the military tried to manufacture a hero, and the U.S. mainstream media played along. Jessica was unwillingly placed in the middle of this, and she can do no more than be herself and try to fully regain her health. People will decide on a person-by-person basis if she’s a hero. ---
**Author:** ![kputt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f475e1/32.png) [@kputt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kputt)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/71 "2003-07-24T19:46:59Z")
There is a link to Al Qaeda. There were training camps in plain view right outside Baghdad. Also, Al Qaeda is attacking our troops in Iraq right now. There is an Iraq-Al Qaeda connection. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/72 "2003-07-24T20:53:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kputt \* > \*\*There is a link to Al Qaeda. There were training camps in plain view right outside Baghdad. Also, Al Qaeda is attacking our troops in Iraq right now. There is an Iraq-Al Qaeda connection. \*\* I call bullshit. You continue to make what amount to nonsensical statements without offering any links or cites. Are we supposed to believe you just because you say so? If you can’t back up your bullshit, then please stop annoying people with this drivel. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/73 "2003-07-24T21:13:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Synthesis \* > A hero is someone who makes difficult choices and/or places themselves in harms way deliberately for the sake of some greater good. > > Just my opinion. \*\* You mean like someone who joins the military? ---
**Author:** ![Clucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Clucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clucky)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/74 "2003-07-24T21:26:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kputt \* > \*\*There is a link to Al Qaeda. There were training camps in plain view right outside Baghdad. Also, Al Qaeda is attacking our troops in Iraq right now. There is an Iraq-Al Qaeda connection. \*\* I’ll see **Chefguy** ’s bullshit, and raise him, er, more bullshit. The Bushies maintained that Saddam Hussein and Al Queda were linked because there was a terrorist training camp in Iraq. The terrorist camp they allege was run by Ansar-al-Islam, which the U.S. has attempted to tie to Al Queda. This group is in the northern no-fly zone in Iraq, which wasn’t under the control of Hussein. Is this what you were referring to? ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/75 "2003-07-24T23:56:48Z")
The media keeps referring to Lynch as “former POW Jessica Lynch.” Was she even ever a POW? It looks like she was shot at, wounded, and taken to a hospital, where she was treated. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/76 "2003-07-25T01:44:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bluethree \* > The media keeps referring to Lynch as “former POW Jessica Lynch.” > > Was she even ever a POW? It looks like she was shot at, wounded, and taken to a hospital, where she was treated. \*\* Um…yeah. Being a POW doesn’t mean they have to toss you in a concrete cell. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/77 "2003-07-25T02:04:52Z")
Well… first of all, who said she was a hero? If someone says that an anchorman or somebody said it, I’ll believe it – I’m just asking, not challenging. Not sure I’d call her a hero. Patriotic? Certainly. Brave? Sure. But… heroic? Dunno about that. I am inclined to wonder about her citations. Purple Heart? Seems like she earned that one. POW? Yeah, she qualifies. The Star, though? Precisely what did she do to earn that? By her own admission, she doesn’t remember. As to why the media went hogwild over her… I suspect it’s because she cooda got raped. This is not something the average soldier needs to worry about, nor something the average soldier’s MOTHER needs to worry about happening to her baby at the hands of the enemy, you know. I remember that week between her disappearance and her rescue quite well. The news media hinted and hawed and hemmed and did everything but broadcast IRAQIS ARE ALL SEX MANIACS AND THEY LIKE AMERICAN NOOKIE. After we got her back, I recall hearing several pundits remark about how we had no information as to whether she had been “assaulted.” Since broken bones and gunshot wounds would seem to be proof of assault to anyone with a brain in their heads, I can only assume they meant “We dunno if she done got rapeded or not.” Lots of people still got hot-button issues about women in the military. This plugs into that pretty well. The whole freakin’ world wanted to know what those evil nasty Iraqis were gonna do to this fresh-faced li’l lily-white teenager from West Virginia. Kill her? Maybe. Torture her? Prob’ly. RAPE her…? And now, it seems, we will never know. Which is probably not a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/78 "2003-07-25T03:20:25Z")
Remember that special ops soldier during the opening stages of the war in Afghanistan? The helicopter came under fire from the ground, and the pilot had to take radical manuevers to evade - the flight chief almost got knocked out of the helicopter, so the soldier jumped out of his seat, caught the guy, but then fell out himself? Falling 30-50 feet (I can’t remember specifically) to the ground with his rifle and some grenades, then _getting up, seeing the enemy force on the ground, and attacking them_ to give cover to the helicopter to escape? IIRC, they caught a lot of that fight on either infrared satellite or a recon drone and he ended up taking down dozens of Taliban soldiers on his own before getting fatally wounded. Now that was a hero. Anyone remember his name? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/79 "2003-07-25T10:01:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gex gex \* > **Paraphrased: "I, Airman Doors, am a hero. > You’d have trouble finding anyone else who’s just doing their job calling themselves a hero.** If you want to say that, go ahead. How was the view on CNN, by the way? Whether it was her fault or not, which as a Private could not have been, she was almost killed. It’s good to see that someone nearly dies for your country and you make value judgments on her. Very courageous act on your behalf. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292/80 "2003-07-25T10:06:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SenorBeef \* > \*\*Remember that special ops soldier during the opening stages of the war in Afghanistan? > > The helicopter came under fire from the ground, and the pilot had to take radical manuevers to evade - the flight chief almost got knocked out of the helicopter, so the soldier jumped out of his seat, caught the guy, but then fell out himself? > > Falling 30-50 feet (I can’t remember specifically) to the ground with his rifle and some grenades, then _getting up, seeing the enemy force on the ground, and attacking them_ to give cover to the helicopter to escape? IIRC, they caught a lot of that fight on either infrared satellite or a recon drone and he ended up taking down dozens of Taliban soldiers on his own before getting fatally wounded. > > Now that was a hero. > > Anyone remember his name? \*\* I remember Petty Officer Roberts falling from the helicopter and being killed during Operation Anaconda. I also remember what Senior Airman Cunningham did to win the Air Force Cross. I started a thread about it, in fact. I think you might be mixing the two of them up. But that’s OK. At least you remember that these things happened. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jessica-lynch-a-hero/190292.md?page=5)