VALPARAISO — At just 19 years old, Jessica Lynch was nervous before her deployment to Iraq war but said she felt ready. Nothing could have readied her for what happened once she got there.
Lynch was captured by Iraqi forces just three days after she was deployed in March 2003. Lynch, 40, was the first prisoner of war successfully rescued since World War II and the first-ever female prisoner of war.
Lynch detailed her capture, and its aftermath, to students and faculty at Ivy Tech Community College Wednesday. She also shared her story of perseverance to approximately 580 attendees at the seventh Annual Veterans Dinner, hosted by the Valparaiso Kiwanis and Rotary clubs at the Porter County Expo Center that evening.
Since she was discharged from the military two decades ago, Lynch made it her mission to help veterans, particularly fellow former prisoners of war.
The Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal recipient said she often gives motivational speeches about how she got through her experience, but she also helps veterans adjust to normal life when they return from overseas.
“I want to work with former POWs, make sure that they get what they need, but then also veterans in general, because the VA is not always easy to navigate,” she said.
Everyone in her Humvee, except Lynch, was killed in an Iraqi ambush on March 23, 2003.
Lynch was unconscious for most of the ambush and still doesn’t have a full picture of…
