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Lynch family rejoices palestine Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Freed soldier's family rejoices in 'Palestine'
The Associated Press Apr. 2, 2003
More than a week of worry over US Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch quickly turned into a gleeful celebration with blaring sirens and fireworks as her family and friends rejoiced over her rescue in Iraq.
Lynch's family was told at about 6 p.m. Tuesday that the missing 19-year-old supply clerk with the 507th Maintenance Company had been rescued from an Iraqi hospital by American troops.
"I thought at first it was an April Fools joke," said her father, Greg Lynch Sr.
Speaking Wednesday morning on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America," Greg Lynch said he still had not heard about his daughter's condition but was awaiting a call.
"We're just real proud they risked their lives to go in and save our daughter," her father said. "We hope all the rest of the troops come home safely."
As the news spread, more than 70 friends and relatives gathered at Greg and Deadra Lynch's two-story, wood-frame house in the farming community of Palestine to show their support and share in the celebration.
Lynch's mother told WCHS-TV, "I'm so excited. I'm speechless. Prayer I knew couldn't go wrong."
The soldier's older brother, Gregory, is a member of the National Guard based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina "They did a wonderful job up there. I knew they were going to bring her home safe. I didn't realize that it was going to be this soon," he said.
Several miles (kilometers) away from Palestine, in the county seat of Elizabeth, residents threw their own celebration. An impromptu parade of cars and fire trucks wound through the town as people milled along the sidewalks and set off firecrackers.
Central Command officials in Qatar, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lynch was rescued from an Iraqi hospital. Eleven bodies, some of them believed to be Americans, were found with Lynch, a military spokesman said Wednesday. The bodies have not been identified.
Last week, Greg Lynch said he expected his daughter would be found and would return home to pursue her dream of becoming a kindergarten teacher. Lynch joined the Army out of high school to earn enough money to attend college.
Lynch was among the soldiers of the 507th Maintenance who were ambushed March 23 near Nasiriyah, a major crossing point over the Euphrates River northwest of Basra. Five members of the 507th were shown on Iraqi television as prisoners being questioned, but Lynch was not among them.
The family was to hold a news conference Wednesday.
US troops rescued Lynch near the area where her unit was ambushed, said Jean Offutt, a spokeswoman for Fort Bliss, Texas, where the 507th is based.
Lynch had been listed as missing in action but was identified by the Pentagon on Tuesday as a prisoner of war.
She was not among the seven US soldiers, including the five from the 507th shown on television, formally listed as prisoners of war.
Relatives of several other missing and captured members of the 507th said Tuesday night they had received no news, but some said Lynch's rescue renewed their optimism.
"It gives me hope," said Jack Dowdy, father of missing Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy, 38. "I'm just sitting here hoping if they find one maybe they will find some more."
"I'm hoping they found some other news too, and that maybe she knows something," said Janie Kiehl, mother of missing Spc. James Kiehl, 22.
Lynch enlisted through the Army's delayed-entry program before graduating from Wirt County High School in Elizabeth.
Before the war started, Lynch wrote a letter to family friends Glenda and Don Nelson. The letter, dated March 18, arrived on Monday.
"She said she was ready to go to war and was just waiting on President Bush's word, but I could tell she was scared," said Don Nelson. "We bawled like babies when we read it. It tore us up."
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