NewsMax Wires
Wednesday, April 2, 2003

Lynch, 19, of Palestine, W.Va., a soldier with the 507th Maintenance Battalion, was among those ambushed March 23.

Eleven bodies, some believed to be Americans, were found with Lynch when she was rescued in a U.S. commando raid on an Iraqi hospital, a military spokesman said today.

The cause of death was not disclosed.

"We have reason to believe some of them were Americans," said Navy Capt. Frank Thorp, a U.S. Central Command spokesman.

He said the military had not confirmed whether they were members of Lynch's unit, the 507th Maintenance Company. "We don't yet know the identity of those people," Thorp said. "And forensics will determine that."

Two of the bodies were in a morgue in the hospital, and the nine others were buried outside the building, said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, another U.S. Central Command spokesman. He said U.S. forces were led to the graves by someone in custody.

Lynch was treated for undisclosed injuries. She is being sent to the Landstul Regional Medical Center in southwestern Germany and was expected to arrive about 3 p.m. CST, said Heather Miller, spokeswoman for the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base.

Brooks would not comment on Lynch's condition. In a green-tinted, night-vision video taken of the rescue operation and shown to reporters today, she was carried on a stretcher from a helicopter to another aircraft.

A photograph showed a folded American flag resting on her as she smiled and looked at the camera.

An Iraqi pharmacist who works at Saddam Hospital told Britain's Sky television that he treated her for leg injuries but that she was otherwise healthy and that daily he "saw her crying about wanting to go home."

The druggist, who gave his name only as Imad, said Lynch knew the U.S. troops were on the other side of the Euphrates River, and "she kept wondering if the American Army were coming to save her."

Lynch had not been confirmed as a prisoner of war by the Pentagon. She was listed as missing in action.

She was among 12 from her unit listed as missing in action. Five others are listed as prisoners of war. They were shown being interviewed on Iraqi TV. They are: