- A few nights ago I saw a preview of Saving Jessica Lynch.
It was all I could do to contain the gray matter.
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- I was extremely busy and without access to a computer
during the "rescue." A week after Pfc. Lynch was returned to
American custody, I heard incredulous stories of a heroic young soldier,
Rambo-style shooting at the enemy until out of bullets, and who endured
stab wounds and torture until she was dramatically rescued in perfect made-for
TV fashion.
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- And then the BBC aired the infamous documentary, essentially
labeling the Pentagon's version of events as a work of fiction. I trust
the BBC over the Pentagon.
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- Sure enough, Pfc Lynch has selective amnesia and cannot
remember the events of her capture and rescue, though that hasn't stopped
her from a million dollar book deal with the NY Times most recent plagiarist
du jour, Rick Bragg.
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- When the Department of Defense insisted on keeping up
their official version of the rescue, I knew that inevitably some of Lynch's
rescuers would be hushed. After all, here is a woman who endured a few
broken limbs from a vehicle accident and is rewarded with a million bucks,
while her rescuers continue to live without toilets and running water in
a Depleted Uranium wasteland. Her Bronze Star has outraged many veterans.
At some point even the threat of an untimely demise will not keep some
disgruntled military folks from talking.
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- Eerily enough, four of Pfc. Lynch's rescuers and colleagues
have met an early demise.
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- Petty Officer First Class David M. Tapper died of wounds
received in Afghanistan. He took part in the rescue.
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- Lance Cpl. Sok Khak Ung was killed in a drive-by shooting.
He was also part of the rescue team.
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- Spc Josh Daniel Speer died when his car went over an
embankment for no apparent reason. He was part of the rescue team.
-
- Kyle Edward Williams, who worked in the same company
as Lynch, died of "suicide". "A Tucson man was shot to death
outside a West Side hotel Wednesday after breaking into a vehicle and being
confronted by its owner, an Army soldier, who shot him in the back and
fled, police said Friday.
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- The soldier, Spc. Kyle Edward Williams, 21, was found
dead outside San Diego on Thursday and officials believe he committed suicide
with one of the seven firearms he had been carrying with him.
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- He left no note to explain the suicide or why he fired
six shots at Noah P. Gamez, also 21, after spotting the man stealing an
ice chest from his Jeep.
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- Williams spent seven months in the Middle East as part
of the 507th Maintenance Company, the same unit as Pfc. Jessica Lynch,
Army officials said.
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- He didn't have any disciplinary or mental health problems
before he left Fort Bliss, Texas, at the end of September for 20 days of
leave before moving to a new military job, the officials said."
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- But this statistically improbable occurrence is just
a coincidence.
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- http://karmakat.typepad.com/picasso_dreams/2003/10/its_just_a_coin.html
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