- ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Maryland
(Reuters) - Jessica Lynch, the young U.S. soldier rescued by American forces
from captivity in Iraq, arrived in the United States on Saturday from Germany,
along with 49 other wounded soldiers.
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- Lynch, who has multiple injuries and broken limbs, was
carried on a stretcher from a giant C17 cargo plane that ferried 50 wounded
soldiers and some family members to Andrews Air Force Base, just outside
Washington.
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- Lynch, 19, spent nine days as a prisoner of war after
her 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company convoy made a wrong turn and came
under fire from Iraqi tanks and troops on March 23.
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- Acting on a tip from an Iraqi lawyer, U.S. special forces
on April 1 infiltrated Saddam Hospital in the southern city of Nassiriya
under cover of darkness to whisk Lynch out of enemy territory.
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- Some 109 U.S. soldiers have been killed during the Iraq
war, with at least 399 wounded and 10 others missing.
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- Lynch was loaded into a waiting ambulance and taken for
further treatment to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in a Washington suburb,
where President Bush on Saturday visited 20 other wounded soldiers.
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- A White House spokesman could not say if Bush planned
to visit or call Lynch after her arrival.
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- Lynch's family issued a statement thanking the public,
U.S. armed forces and medical teams as the plane left Ramstein, Germany,
before a nine-hour flight to the United States.
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- "It is almost impossible to express how grateful
we are to the brave American service members who participated in Jesse's
rescue and to the courageous Iraqi citizens who risked their lives to make
her rescue possible," said the statement.
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- "Jesse is alive because of their sacrifices."
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- Lynch, an aspiring teacher who joined the army to get
an education, has shot to fame in the United States as the most accessible
human interest story involving U.S. troops in a war where U.S. casualty
numbers have been kept down due to the overwhelmingly superior firepower
of U.S.-led forces.
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- The Private First Class from Palestine, West Virginia,
has two broken legs, a broken arm, broken foot and ankle and back injuries.
Her family said her condition was improving.
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- "Jesse's recovery continues and she is doing well.
She is in pain but in good spirits. Although she faces a lengthy rehabilitation,
she is tough. We believe she will regain her strength soon," the family
said.
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- (Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop)
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