Maui awaits rescued POW
Associated Press
WAILUKU, Maui — Pfc. Jessica Lynch, the American soldier rescued from an Iraqi hospital Wednesday after being taken prisoner in Iraq, has a trip to Maui waiting for her when she recovers from injuries.
Associated Press
The Maui News, its sister newspaper, the Parkersburg News & Sentinel in Lynch's home state of West Virginia, and other supporters are giving her a free trip. It will be presented to Lynch and her family when she returns home to Palestine, W.Va.
Pfc. Jessica Lynch's dream to someday visit Hawai'i will come true.
Michael Christman, the publisher of the News & Sentinel, said it was Lynch's dream to someday visit Hawai'i.
Pat Saka, publisher of The Maui News, said the paper was "happy to be able to help fulfill her dream."
Lynch was rescued from a hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah by a team of Navy SEALs, Marine commandos, Air Force pilots and Army Rangers.
The commandos who rescued Lynch also unearthed nine bodies from a nearby burial site, eight of which were identified as members of Lynch's unit, the 507th Maintenance Company based in El Paso, Texas. The ninth was a soldier from a forward support group of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division.
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Yesterday, Lynch enjoyed a long-awaited reunion with her family. Her parents, Deadra and Gregory, two siblings and a cousin paid Lynch two brief visits after arriving early yesterday from West Virginia, said U.S. military officials at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in southwestern Germany.
Lynch, a 19-year-old supply clerk, was in stable condition in intensive care, where she was being treated for a head wound, an injury to her spine, and fractures to her right arm, both legs, and her right foot and ankle.
Lynch underwent back surgery Thursday to correct a slipped vertebra that was putting pressure on her spinal cord. Since then, she has undergone several more surgeries to stabilize the fractures, the hospital said.
Doctors said the prognosis for Lynch's full recovery was excellent.
