|
A quick news search showed that Army private Jessica Lynch did indeed receive the Bronze Star award, as well as a Purple Heart and Prisoner of War medal, in July 2003. The young clerk was a member of the U.S. Army's 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company stationed in Iraq earlier in the year. She became internationally famous after her company's convoy took a wrong turn outside of Nasiriya, Iraq. Lynch was riding in a Humvee
that crashed into the back of an Army truck when the convoy was ambushed. A number of her comrades were killed in the ambush, and Lynch suffered multiple broken bones. Iraqis took Lynch to a local hospital for treatment, where she was assigned a specialist and a nurse. Iraqi medical staff donated their own blood to Lynch for her recovery from the accident. One doctor even tried sending Lynch back to U.S. forces, but Americans mistakenly fired on the ambulance. Eight days after Lynch was injured, the U.S. Army stormed the hospital and brought her home. According to Lt. Gen. James B. Peake who presented Lynch with her awards, she earned the
Bronze Star "for meritorious service in combat." Nothing further was noted about why Lynch received this particular medal. Her other decorations are more closely linked with her injuries and time spent as a prisoner of war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Bronze Star in 1944 on the recommendation of General George C. Marshall. The intent of the award was to improve morale among ground troops who lead "miserable lives of extreme discomfort" and endure the greatest hardships during combat. A similar award had been created earlier to raise the morale of air troops. The inscription on the Bronze Star reads "heroic or meritorious achievement."
|
