At first blush, you might think that people telling heroic stories about you, even if they were untrue, would be the kind of thing you’d be OK living with. After all, how many of us have been guilty of embellishing the stories of our own lives from time to time? Vanity is part of what makes humans human, so why would stories of valor on the battlefield possibly offend someone?

But when you’ve dedicated your life to serving your country, when you do so and suffer imprisonment and injury at the hands of your nation’s enemies for your country’s sake, you would probably like to think that what you’ve done was enough. You would probably want to be acknowledged for your service, as indeed you have a right to expect.

But in Jessica Lynch’s case, her real story was apparently not enough for either the military or the media. Instead, they spun a yarn of a “lady Rambo,” primal screaming as she shot her way through Iraqi bad-guys until she was finally taken down.

Can you imagine having to tell everyone that wasn’t the truth about you? Can you imagine that your war wounds and your sacrifice would need to be a disappointment for the American people and an embarrassment for the military? Can you imagine that almost giving your life was not enough?

And worse even than that, can you imagine the very people upon whom you laid the blame interviewing you (a process by which normal people would expect to get information from someone), clearly without listening to you? The emphasis is mine in the next passage, which is a snippet of an interview of PFC Jessica Lynch:

Jessica Lynch Sets the Record Straight – Newsweek National News – MSNBC.com

Who is to blame for spreading the misinformation?
Well, I think really the military and the media. The military, for not setting the record straight and the media for spreading it, and not seeking the true facts. They just ran with it instead of waiting until the facts were straightened out.
Do you feel like this is a pattern, misinformation from the military?
Well, it kind of seems like that’s the way it’s been happening. I hope they can learn from mistakes and correct this and not let other family members and soldiers have to deal with the things that my family and I went through.
What was the hardest part of having misinformation spread?
Knowing that it wasn’t the truth. I just, I had to get [the truth] out there. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself knowing that’s not exactly how it happened.

Note also that nowhere in the above-linked piece do they even do her the small honor of mentioning that she was a private, first class. Go ahead and search for “private” or “PFC,” you won’t find them. Now she’s just “Jessica Lynch.”

Not to me. I’ve never been prouder of an American serviceman or woman. And I’ll bet the Tillman family is just as proud. Thank you, PFC Lynch.

Even an act of Congress won’t distract the media from it’s own agenda. Perhaps the Fairness Doctrine would help?

Technorati Tags: Jessica Lynch, Pat Tillman

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