Jessica Dawn Lynch (born April 26, 1983) is an American teacher, actress, and former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a private first class.
On March 23, 2003, she was serving as a unit supply specialist with the 507th Maintenance Company when her convoy was ambushed by Iraqi troops during the Battle of Nasiriyah; Lynch was seriously injured during the offensive and captured by Iraqi soldiers shortly afterwards. Her subsequent recovery by U.S. special operations forces on April 1, 2003, received considerable media coverage as it was the first successful rescue of an American prisoner of war since World War II and the first ever of a woman.
Initial official reports on Lynch's capture and rescue in Iraq were incorrect. On April 24, 2007, she testified in front of United States Congress that she had never fired her weapon (her M16 rifle reportedly having jammed), and that she had been knocked unconscious when her vehicle crashed during the ambush.
Early life
Lynch was born on April 26, 1983 in Palestine, West Virginia, the second child and first daughter to Deidre Lynch and Gregory Lynch, Sr. Her family could not afford to send her to college; her older brother had to drop out for financial reasons as well. Searching for a way to pay for the children's education, the Lynch family met with an army recruiter in the summer of 2000 when Lynch was seventeen and still in high school. "He did not lie to the kids," her mother said, "he said there was always the possibility of war in the future." "But at that time it was before September 11, and there was no terrorism," Lynch recalls, "so we were like, 'that would never happen to