Jessica Lynch
I don't come from a rich family - it's not like we lived in a cardboard box, but we didn't have a ton of money.Collection: Family
The truth is always more heroic than the hype.
I grew up in Palestine, West Virginia, which is mostly a farming community; there aren't a lot of jobs.
I don't think any war is worth having our soldiers killed.
They told me I'd never probably see the front-line area.
I know that I'm already in the history books and that people are going to remember me as the prisoner of war and the fabricated stories, but you know, to me I was just another soldier over there doing my job.
I have repeatedly said, when asked, that if the stories about me helped inspired our troops and rally a nation, then perhaps there was some good.
I could be, you know, the person that shows little kids that giving up isn't something that you should do.
Certain days I think definitely because we went in there and we got Saddam and that was our mission. On other days, we lost so many lives and so many brothers and sisters... on that aspect, no.
There's not day that goes by that I don't remember why I'm in the situation I'm in.
Since coming back from Iraq, there's been so many triumphs and obstacles standing in my way, so whenever I set my mind to something, I definitely just go full blast at it.
There's soldiers out there every day that are doing heroic things... We don't need to create them.
Honesty has always been very important to me.
The whole idea that the rescue was staged or the soldiers were shooting blanks, that's just obvious stuff. Why would you do that in the middle of a war? It's just crazy.
The nurses at the hospital tried to soothe me, and they even tried unsuccessfully at one point to return me to Americans.
I woke up and all I could see was Iraqis standing all around me, looking down upon me. I knew at that moment something terrible had happened and I wasn't in the right place.
I remember the first time I put on the Army uniform. I just felt like a totally different person - I felt proud.
I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and tried to make me a legend when the real heroics of my fellow soldiers that day were, in fact, legendary. People like Lori Piestewa and First Sergeant Dowdy who picked up fellow soldiers in harm's way. Or people like Patrick Miller and Sergeant Donald Walters who actually fought until the very end. The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own ideals of heroes and they don't need to be told elaborate tales.Collection: Confused
I had the good fortune and opportunity to come home and to tell the truth; many soldiers, like Pat Tillman… did not have that opportunity. The truth of war is not always easy. The truth is always more heroic than the hype.Collection: War
I try to dream about peaceful things, beaches, that is what I cannot understand. Why are they chasing me?Collection: Dream
I'm not about to take credit for something I didn't do. I did not shoot - not a round, nothing. I went down praying to my knees - that's the last thing I remember.Collection: Credit
Certain days I think definitely because we went in there and we got Saddam and that was our mission. On other days, we lost so many lives and so many brothers and sisters...on that aspect, no.Collection: Brother