How many of you have heard of Pvt. Michael J. Deutsch, a member of the 1st Squadron, 1st Calvary, 1st Armored Division from Dubuque, Iowa, who was killed his M113 Armored Personnel Carrier hit a landmine in Baghdad, Iraq July 31, 2003, according to CNN’s website.
How about Chief Warrant Officer Sharon T. Swartworth, a Judge Advocate General Office of the Headquarters Department of the Army and Pentagon from Virginia, who was killed when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was in was shot down in Tikrit, Iraq Nov. 7, 2003?
No? Perhaps you might have heard briefly of First Sgt. Robert Dowdy. He was a member of the507th Maintenance Company killed after his convoy was ambushed in Iraq March 23, 2003. Was that a maybe a “no, I still don’t know who you are talking about?”
Perhaps If I ask you if you have heard of Pfc. Jessica Lynch, every one of you is will say yes. Thanks in part to both the press and television news media, not to mention our own government who have made this brave woman into something she herself has said she is not, a hero.
Websters.com defines a hero in five ways. One of them is “a person noted for feats of courage and nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.”
By that definition Jessica Lynch is not a hero.
The facts speak for themselves. The Humvee Lynch and other members of the 507th Maintenance Company made a wrong turn on March 23 when they were ambushed by Iraqi forces. Except for Lynch, everyone who was with her inside the Humvee was killed that day and she was unable to defend herself because her weapon had jammed.
“Don’t they know it was dad’s Humvee,” said daughter Kristy Dowdy in the Nov. 17, 2003 issue of Newsweek who reportedly tears up every time the media talks about Lynch. “Don’t they know it was Dad doing stuff?”
The same went for Sgt. Donald Walters, a 33-year-old cook and mechanic and member of the 507th who was also killed in the ambush and left a wife and three daughters. Newsweek quoted from a military report that suggests Walters fought bravely.
“I am angry,” said Arlene Walters, Donald’s mother who according to Newsweek wants the government to give her son a hero’s due. “It seems like after a soldier is dead, they’re forgotten.”
Lynch’s ordeal is nothing more than an embarrassing public relations ploy – a feel-good campaign, which the media happily got on board.
©11/26/03
How about Chief Warrant Officer Sharon T. Swartworth, a Judge Advocate General Office of the Headquarters Department of the Army and Pentagon from Virginia, who was killed when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was in was shot down in Tikrit, Iraq Nov. 7, 2003?
No? Perhaps you might have heard briefly of First Sgt. Robert Dowdy. He was a member of the507th Maintenance Company killed after his convoy was ambushed in Iraq March 23, 2003. Was that a maybe a “no, I still don’t know who you are talking about?”
Perhaps If I ask you if you have heard of Pfc. Jessica Lynch, every one of you is will say yes. Thanks in part to both the press and television news media, not to mention our own government who have made this brave woman into something she herself has said she is not, a hero.
Websters.com defines a hero in five ways. One of them is “a person noted for feats of courage and nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.”
By that definition Jessica Lynch is not a hero.
The facts speak for themselves. The Humvee Lynch and other members of the 507th Maintenance Company made a wrong turn on March 23 when they were ambushed by Iraqi forces. Except for Lynch, everyone who was with her inside the Humvee was killed that day and she was unable to defend herself because her weapon had jammed.
Don’t get me wrong. The situation Lynch was in when captured by the Iraqis, possibly tortured and perhaps raped was horrific. Just knowing she lived through it makes her brave. But she isn’t the hero here.It’s not her story Hollywood should have made a television film about. It’s the ones who died fighting when her Humvee was attacked that day and the servicemen who went into the Iraqi hospital to rescue Lynch.
“Don’t they know it was dad’s Humvee,” said daughter Kristy Dowdy in the Nov. 17, 2003 issue of Newsweek who reportedly tears up every time the media talks about Lynch. “Don’t they know it was Dad doing stuff?”
The same went for Sgt. Donald Walters, a 33-year-old cook and mechanic and member of the 507th who was also killed in the ambush and left a wife and three daughters. Newsweek quoted from a military report that suggests Walters fought bravely.
“I am angry,” said Arlene Walters, Donald’s mother who according to Newsweek wants the government to give her son a hero’s due. “It seems like after a soldier is dead, they’re forgotten.”
Lynch’s ordeal is nothing more than an embarrassing public relations ploy – a feel-good campaign, which the media happily got on board.
©11/26/03
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