Society overlooks nontraditional hero
by Keith Ludwick, Photo Editor

   Pvt. Jessica Lynch may or may not be a hero, depending upon one’s point of view.
   The miners in Pennsylvania were called heroes when the mine they worked in collapsed. I simply did not agree.
   However, I hold Lynch in the highest of esteem.
   She did not ask to be attacked, captured or made a symbol of American propaganda.
   Yet she courageously denied the rumors of her heroism although nobody could contradict her story. She could have made up whatever she wanted and let the waves of propaganda flow where they would.
   But she chose to be honest. She admitted that her rifle jammed and that she never fired a single shot even though she has been depicted as fighting off the advancing enemy to the last bullet.
   She said she had no memory of being raped when she could have played upon the sympathies of the American public and woven a tale of horror and tragedy.
   She gave credit to the soldiers who lost their lives that day fighting beside her.
   She even expressed her anger at being made into a symbol used by both sides of the raging debate over our country’s actions in Iraq.
   I saw nothing in Lynch to convince me she is trying to take advantage of her situation.
   Yes, she is splitting $1 million in royalties from her book with the author. But capitalism is the American way.
   Those miners made a lot of money from their ordeals. Were they attacked for their gains as Lynch has been attacked for hers?
   Let’s not forget Lynch suffered injuries she may never fully recover from. She will live with some degree of pain for the rest of her life, which could limit her ability to earn a full-time income.
   Attacking her is petty and vitriolic. Is her treatment worse at home than when she was a captive in Iraq?
   Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler magazine, recently announced he had purchased photos of a topless Lynch. He later reversed his position, saying he would not publish the photos. But what if he did?
   Lynch never expected to be thrust into the spotlight, and her actions were representative of other American kids.
   How many of us can claim to have no skeletons in our own closets?
   And how many of us would turn down that $1 million or stand with our heads up and deny stories that would turn us into heroes?
   I don’t know that I could have done what she did. For that, she is a hero to me.