REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Wednesday March 26, 2003

ANXIOUS parents Greg and Deirdre Lynch were praying for the safety of their 19-year-old daughter Jessica, who was missing in action in Iraq.

The pretty blonde country girl from West Virginia was feared to be the first woman soldier to die in the conflict. She was among 12 members of an ambushed US supply convoy.

The Humvee carrying Lynch and other soldiers was heavily damaged after being attacked by Iraqi forces bearing rocketpropelled grenades.

Early reports all suggested that the young woman had died during the incident.

However, Private First Class Lynch was in fact alive but was seriously injured when she was captured. Her captivity lasted five days and she was freed on April 1, 2003.

It was the first instance of a serving US prisoner of war in more than 20 years.

She returned to the US and left the armed forces soon after.

Stories initially published that Lynch had fought back against her captors were later found to be false after she appeared before an inquiry and dismissed the tales as propaganda put forward by the Pentagon. The now-32-year-old is a teacher and actor.

On the day Lynch was captured, Coalition forces attacked elite Republican Guards defending the approaches to Baghdad — where it was feared Saddam Hussein could activate chemical weapons if his defences were pierced. To the south, American Marines finally punched a path through stubborn Iraqi resistance in Nasiriyah.

The early weeks of the war saw US forces dominate the Iraqi army and seize significant portions of territory.