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Beepers go off, sirens sound as town celebrates raid that found 'Jesse' Lynch

Wednesday, April 02, 2003

By Michael A. Fuoco, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

ELIZABETH, W.Va. -- Amid the cacophony of blaring police sirens, honking car horns and exploding fireworks residents of tiny Palestine and surrounding communities cried, hugged and danced in celebration of their answered prayers: Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch had been rescued in Iraq.

	Sue Fryman of Elizabeth, W.Va., holds a painting that she made for Pfc. Jessica Lynch's family outside the Wirt County Courthouse, where people gathered last night to celebrate the news that Lynch had been rescued in Iraq. At left is a tree with symbolic yellow ribbons that were placed there when Lynch became a prisoner of war. (John Beale, Post-Gazette)

Lynch, 19, had been listed as missing since March 23 when she and other soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company were ambushed near Nasiriyah, a major crossing point over the Euphrates River northwest of Basra.

Five members of the 507th were later shown on Iraqi television as prisoners being questioned. Lynch was not one of them.

At the Lynch home in Palestine, the sounds of excitement could be heard in the background during a telephone call as a woman who didn't identify herself confirmed that Jesse, as she's known to everyone, had been found.

News of Lynch's successful rescue, reported to the family by military officials about 7 p.m., traveled through Wirt County like a tornado. Hours before U.S. Central Command in Qatar confirmed that the rescued solider was Lynch, her neighbors and friends knew it was true.

Lynch's dramatic rescue -- in which a CIA tip sent Navy SEALs and Army Rangers to the hospital in Nasiriyah where she was being held -- gave military officials in Washington and the Persian Gulf area welcome news to share with the American public.

Jim Wilkinson, a Central Command spokesman, said in an interview with CNN that Lynch was in good spirits. "America is a nation that does not leave its heroes behind," he said. "She's safe in coalition hands and happier than where she was."

CNN reported that Lynch had multiple gunshot wounds and was in stable condition in a hospital at an undisclosed location.

The CIA, which has been deeply involved in finding targets for the military and has liaisons in every significant military command involved in the war, identified Lynch's location and fed the geographical coordinates to U.S. Central Command, a U.S. official said.

Iraqis took Lynch to a hospital near Nasiriyah, the official said. At the time of her capture, she was separated from her military colleagues.

The CIA's intelligence allowed the Special Operations rescue team -- which is on 24-hour standby in a country in the Persian Gulf region -- "to swoop down quickly" and rescue her, the official said.

No other POWs were in or near the hospital at the time, sources said.

The New York Times reported that the rescue operation was recorded on videotape by a member of the rescue team, and the tape may be shown later today.

In West Virginia, Ken Heiney, principal of Wirt County High School in Elizabeth, said he and other administrators were meeting with the school board about 7:30 p.m. when his wife, Cathy, "barged through the door, jumped through it and said 'They found Jesse!' "

"The meeting stopped. The tears flowed. Beepers started going off as the news began to spread. We said a prayer," Heiney said.

No one ever doubted she would return to the area "where everyone knows everyone," he said.

"This community has deep faith in prayer. [Before her rescue] I heard discussions of what kind of parade we were going to have when she comes back to us."

	Pfc. Jessica Lynch, 19, of Palestine, W.Va., was one of several soldiers reported missing after a supply convoy was ambushed in southern Iraq. (Lynch family photos via AP)

Ask what kind that would be, Heiney said, "The biggest this county's ever seen."

Later, while driving from his home back to the school, Heiney watched in amazement at the spontaneous outpouring of joy at Lynch's rescue.

He said a large crowd had gathered at the courthouse in Elizabeth, the county seat about four miles north of Palestine.

"Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the USA' was playing -- loud, blaring. People were coming in every direction.

There was dancing, hands clapping celebrating, fireworks, fire department and police sirens, cars following with horns blowing as soon as the news spread.

"It was tremendous, tremendous," Heiney said.

Hill's Exxon, near the courthouse, was packed with back-slapping, weeping customers as employee Rose Ruble joined in the celebration.

"You wouldn't believe what's going on," she said, excitedly. "It's a big huge celebration.

"Everyone's just saying they are so thankful Jesse is alive and prayer has caused this to happen. I said Jesse will never know the lives she has touched, the people who possibly have even come to know prayer and the Lord because of what happened," Ruble said.

Across the street from the Exxon station, Gary Ahart, 55, was working in a restaurant he is renovating with a friend when he heard all the sirens and fireworks.

Ahart said he, like everyone else in Wirt County, had been glued to the TV hoping to hear news of Lynch. At first, he didn't realize what all the racket was about.

"Everybody was blowing their horns. The police, fire trucks, state troopers ... anyone with a four by four, was out driving around," he said. "At first I thought [the high school team] had won a basketball game, but it was for Jesse."

Ahart said the impromptu parade circled for 90 minutes around Elizabeth's small downtown, where every item imaginable had a yellow ribbon tied to it.

"This is the most God-blessed kind of story I could imagine. The churches prayed. We all prayed," he said. "Miracles do happen."

More celebrations were planned for this morning and later today even as reporters and television news crews converged on the area.

Relatives of several other missing and captured members of the 507th said last night they had received no news, but some said Lynch's rescue renewed their optimism.

"It gives me hope," said Jack Dowdy, father of missing Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy, 38, of Cleveland. "I'm just sitting here hoping if they find one maybe they will find some more."

Michael A. Fuoco can be reached at mfuoco@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1968.