JazzManJim
On the Downbeat
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2001
- Posts
- 27,360
Of course, you can't turn on a TV news station without hearing a story about PFC Jessica Lynch. Hers will turn out to be, I believe, one of the more interesting and compelling stories that could be told of any of the soldiers there in Iraq. So I don't really have a problem with the news updates on her condition, her being transferred to Germany, yet more updates, her going home, etc.
What I do have a problem with is what I've seen many of the talking heads calling her. It may be a minor point to most folks but it really rankles me badly. So this little rant is addressed to them.
She is Private First Class Jessica Lynch. It's not Jessica, or, God Forbid, Jessie. Go with PFC Lynch or even Private Lynch if you want to go with a shortened version of her name. You don't know her and you certainly haven't earned the right to use her first name. You definitely do not have the right to tag her with a nickname that, in my opinion, diminishes what she is and what she's done. I don't understand why you have decided to do this, when you have not done so with other soldiers killed or wounded in battle. Even the craven traitor who rolled grenades into his fellow soldiers' tents gets accorded the respect of his full rank and name. Perhaps you are doing this because you feel some sort of warmth toward her, or some kinship. Maybe her sex or age have something to do with it. I don't care.
There's something that happens when you show those photos of her, looking for all the world like a cheerleader or a little girl playing dress-up in her Daddy's uniform and call her Jessica or Jessie. You dishonor her. You take away her strength and dignity and that is something that you may not do.
Maybe you don't understand what happened to her. She enlisted in the US Army, went through basic training, learned her duties and went into a very dangerous place because that was her job. When her unit came under a withering ambush and her friends and compatriots were falling dead around her, she fought back fiercely, emptying her weapon at the enemy. Remember, she's not a Ranger or an Infantryman. She's a supply clerk and the last time I checked, supply clerks rarely expect (and indeed even train!) to be in a pitched close-quarters gun battle with a larger and more heavily-armed force. She sustained severe wounds and continued to fight. She spent time as a prisoner of war and suffered physical abuse, at the very least. It is likely, based on the sources who helped to rescue her, that she may have suffered worse.
She is not a helpless child. Do not be deceived by the pictures of her on the stretcher, dazed and wounded. She is a soldier, who has both been wounded and killed in battle. She has earned the right to be addressed by her full rank and last name, as you would any other soldier.
What I do have a problem with is what I've seen many of the talking heads calling her. It may be a minor point to most folks but it really rankles me badly. So this little rant is addressed to them.
She is Private First Class Jessica Lynch. It's not Jessica, or, God Forbid, Jessie. Go with PFC Lynch or even Private Lynch if you want to go with a shortened version of her name. You don't know her and you certainly haven't earned the right to use her first name. You definitely do not have the right to tag her with a nickname that, in my opinion, diminishes what she is and what she's done. I don't understand why you have decided to do this, when you have not done so with other soldiers killed or wounded in battle. Even the craven traitor who rolled grenades into his fellow soldiers' tents gets accorded the respect of his full rank and name. Perhaps you are doing this because you feel some sort of warmth toward her, or some kinship. Maybe her sex or age have something to do with it. I don't care.
There's something that happens when you show those photos of her, looking for all the world like a cheerleader or a little girl playing dress-up in her Daddy's uniform and call her Jessica or Jessie. You dishonor her. You take away her strength and dignity and that is something that you may not do.
Maybe you don't understand what happened to her. She enlisted in the US Army, went through basic training, learned her duties and went into a very dangerous place because that was her job. When her unit came under a withering ambush and her friends and compatriots were falling dead around her, she fought back fiercely, emptying her weapon at the enemy. Remember, she's not a Ranger or an Infantryman. She's a supply clerk and the last time I checked, supply clerks rarely expect (and indeed even train!) to be in a pitched close-quarters gun battle with a larger and more heavily-armed force. She sustained severe wounds and continued to fight. She spent time as a prisoner of war and suffered physical abuse, at the very least. It is likely, based on the sources who helped to rescue her, that she may have suffered worse.
She is not a helpless child. Do not be deceived by the pictures of her on the stretcher, dazed and wounded. She is a soldier, who has both been wounded and killed in battle. She has earned the right to be addressed by her full rank and last name, as you would any other soldier.
