Tweet
How about it? Isn't this a great story? A bunch of angry yet caring men rescuing a damsel in distress. Kind of brings tears to your eyes doesn't it?
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id={6C95D041-CF5E-401D-A2A4-9598B87F9E4D}
WASHINGTON - As U.S. special forces hurtled out of a Black Hawk helicopter to rescue Private Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital in a night-time raid, Gen. Tommy Franks watched the entire operation unfold via a live video feed.
The U.S. commander watched as special forces shot their way into the hospital in Nasiriya, found the wounded 19-year-old and shot their way back out again.
"It was a classic joint operation done by some of our nation's finest warriors ... loyal to the creed they know that they'll never leave a fallen comrade behind and never embarrass their country," Brigadier-General Vincent Brooks said after the operation.
The commandos also found two bodies in the morgue, possibly from Pte. Lynch's unit. And they were led outside the hospital where they were shown nine freshly dug graves.
"We have reason to believe some of them were Americans," said navy Captain Frank Thorp, a U.S. Central Command spokesman.
The first successful rescue of a U.S. POW from enemy hands since the Second World War came shortly after midnight on Tuesday.
The "extraction" of Pte. Lynch, an Army supply clerk from the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, was put in motion after the Central Intelligence Agency received a tip, likely from newly captured Iraqi prisoners, that a badly wounded American was being held in the Saddam Hospital near Nasiriya.
As Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and Air Force pilots flew toward the Saddam Hospital in an unlit Black Hawk, U.S. forces knocked out Nasiriya's power.
In a diversionary tactic launched 15 minutes before the raid, U.S. Marines launched a massive attack against Fedayeen militia in the city. They were backed by Harrier attack jets, which demolished the headquarters of the local Baath Party.
"We weren't trying to take the city but we were attempting to distract them and scare the daylights out of them in order to open the way for the U.S. special forces. It worked perfectly," said Major Mike Tanner, a British commando who helped set up the operation.
The rescue team, wearing night vision goggles and transmitting live video, landed at about 1 a.m. and immediately came under sniper fire as they jumped from the helicopter and raced to the hospital.
The Rangers set up a perimeter to defend the operation, while the SEAL commandos made their way into the building to rescue the captured American. Overhead, an Air Force gunship made sure no Iraqi forces got close.
The hospital had been seized by Iraqi soldiers who transformed it into a military post before the war began. However, most of the fighters had left the hospital.
As soon as the Americans arrived, patients and staff began emerging from the hospital with their hands up.
Inside, commandos covered one another, as they advanced from door to door until they reached the young POW.
Pte. Lynch, from Palestine, W. Va., was coherent enough to give her rescuers a thumb's up. Her rescuers then loaded her on to a stretcher.
When several soldiers emerged carrying Pte. Lynch, they came under fire again but were able to escape without anyone being killed or injured.
"Some brave souls put their lives on the line to carry this out," Gen. Brooks said.
An eerie green night-vision video released by the Pentagon showed Pte. Lynch being rushed to the helicopter which lifted her to safety. Gen. Franks was able to see the whole of the action on a video screen at his headquarters in Qatar, 1,000 kilometres away.
Members of the strike force who stayed behind after Pte. Lynch was evacuated later made the gruesome discovery of the bodies and graves. Forensic tests are being conducted on the bodies to determine whether they were U.S. servicemen.
The rescue team also found Saddam's loyalists had set up an armoury in the hospital basement, with ammunition, mortars and maps.
On hearing news of the successful rescue, George W. Bush, the U.S. President, said, "That's great."
Pte. Lynch, a folded U.S. flag lying on her chest, was later transferred to another aircraft and gave a weak smile as her picture was taken by a military photographer. She arrived at the Landstuhl Medical Centre in Germany yesterday afternoon. She was being treated for broken bones and gunshot wounds and was reported in stable condition.
Pte. Lynch was captured after her company took a wrong turn near Nasiriya on March 23 and was ambushed.
Of the 15 soldiers in the unit, five were captured and later shown on Iraqi television, two were reported killed and the rest were listed as missing.
The rescue is the first such successful operation since the Second World War, said Larry Greer, a retired lieutenant colonel in charge of the Defence Department's POW-MIA office.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id={6C95D041-CF5E-401D-A2A4-9598B87F9E4D}
WASHINGTON - As U.S. special forces hurtled out of a Black Hawk helicopter to rescue Private Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital in a night-time raid, Gen. Tommy Franks watched the entire operation unfold via a live video feed.
The U.S. commander watched as special forces shot their way into the hospital in Nasiriya, found the wounded 19-year-old and shot their way back out again.
"It was a classic joint operation done by some of our nation's finest warriors ... loyal to the creed they know that they'll never leave a fallen comrade behind and never embarrass their country," Brigadier-General Vincent Brooks said after the operation.
The commandos also found two bodies in the morgue, possibly from Pte. Lynch's unit. And they were led outside the hospital where they were shown nine freshly dug graves.
"We have reason to believe some of them were Americans," said navy Captain Frank Thorp, a U.S. Central Command spokesman.
The first successful rescue of a U.S. POW from enemy hands since the Second World War came shortly after midnight on Tuesday.
The "extraction" of Pte. Lynch, an Army supply clerk from the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, was put in motion after the Central Intelligence Agency received a tip, likely from newly captured Iraqi prisoners, that a badly wounded American was being held in the Saddam Hospital near Nasiriya.
As Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and Air Force pilots flew toward the Saddam Hospital in an unlit Black Hawk, U.S. forces knocked out Nasiriya's power.
In a diversionary tactic launched 15 minutes before the raid, U.S. Marines launched a massive attack against Fedayeen militia in the city. They were backed by Harrier attack jets, which demolished the headquarters of the local Baath Party.
"We weren't trying to take the city but we were attempting to distract them and scare the daylights out of them in order to open the way for the U.S. special forces. It worked perfectly," said Major Mike Tanner, a British commando who helped set up the operation.
The rescue team, wearing night vision goggles and transmitting live video, landed at about 1 a.m. and immediately came under sniper fire as they jumped from the helicopter and raced to the hospital.
The Rangers set up a perimeter to defend the operation, while the SEAL commandos made their way into the building to rescue the captured American. Overhead, an Air Force gunship made sure no Iraqi forces got close.
The hospital had been seized by Iraqi soldiers who transformed it into a military post before the war began. However, most of the fighters had left the hospital.
As soon as the Americans arrived, patients and staff began emerging from the hospital with their hands up.
Inside, commandos covered one another, as they advanced from door to door until they reached the young POW.
Pte. Lynch, from Palestine, W. Va., was coherent enough to give her rescuers a thumb's up. Her rescuers then loaded her on to a stretcher.
When several soldiers emerged carrying Pte. Lynch, they came under fire again but were able to escape without anyone being killed or injured.
"Some brave souls put their lives on the line to carry this out," Gen. Brooks said.
An eerie green night-vision video released by the Pentagon showed Pte. Lynch being rushed to the helicopter which lifted her to safety. Gen. Franks was able to see the whole of the action on a video screen at his headquarters in Qatar, 1,000 kilometres away.
Members of the strike force who stayed behind after Pte. Lynch was evacuated later made the gruesome discovery of the bodies and graves. Forensic tests are being conducted on the bodies to determine whether they were U.S. servicemen.
The rescue team also found Saddam's loyalists had set up an armoury in the hospital basement, with ammunition, mortars and maps.
On hearing news of the successful rescue, George W. Bush, the U.S. President, said, "That's great."
Pte. Lynch, a folded U.S. flag lying on her chest, was later transferred to another aircraft and gave a weak smile as her picture was taken by a military photographer. She arrived at the Landstuhl Medical Centre in Germany yesterday afternoon. She was being treated for broken bones and gunshot wounds and was reported in stable condition.
Pte. Lynch was captured after her company took a wrong turn near Nasiriya on March 23 and was ambushed.
Of the 15 soldiers in the unit, five were captured and later shown on Iraqi television, two were reported killed and the rest were listed as missing.
The rescue is the first such successful operation since the Second World War, said Larry Greer, a retired lieutenant colonel in charge of the Defence Department's POW-MIA office.
Comment