Jessica Lynch of Palestine, W.Va., joined the Army after graduating from high school in 2001, hoping to travel and earn money to attend college and become a teacher. Her best friend, Spc. Lori Piestewa, and 10 other soldiers died and she and five others were captured when their convoy was attacked in Nasiriyah, Iraq, on March 23, 2003.

Suffering from spinal fractures, nerve damage and a shattered right arm, right foot and left leg, Ms. Lynch was rescued April 1, 2003, by Army Rangers. Now 23, she is a sophomore at West Virginia University's Parkersburg campus. She and her boyfriend, Wes Robinson, 25, of Parkersburg, are expecting their first child in January.

Here's her story, as told to Post-Gazette reporter Cindi Lash:

	Dale Sparks, Associated Press Jessica Lynch on the West Virginia University campus in April. Click photo for larger image.

Running is something I want to get back to. I last went running in Kuwait, on the sand. Before we went to Iraq.

I wanted to think it's like riding a bicycle, you don't forget. I've tried on a treadmill, but it's not pretty. It's getting back into learning how to do it.

What were the odds? For me to be one of a few POWs out of all the soldiers deployed? It was a definite shock.

There have been times when my physical abilities and mental abilities have been tested. But that also keeps me going.

My brother and I signed up on the same day in July 2001. When I left for basic on Sept. 19, it was a week later, and I was kind of scared. I was afraid they would ship us straight from basic to the war, but I didn't know anything then.

Most of the earlier stories about what happened to me were untrue. I think people wanted the story to turn out with that whole Rambo-style shooting, the things that didn't really happen. They wanted that fairy tale story.

In the beginning, I did mind it a little. Then after a while, you see the bigger picture. It doesn't matter now. With my book, it gave more information, it gave the truth.

At first, I was more concerned with walking. After you see your name a couple of times on CNN, you say, 'Oh, it's kind of a big deal.' It was mid-stay at Walter Reed, and a lot of it was the guards outside my door, situated so no one could get in.

I had a head laceration. The right humerus has a rod in it. The left femur has a rod in it. The left tibia, a rod. My back has a cage in it. My right foot is all pins, rods and screws. There were internal injuries.

I've had plenty of surgeries, I would guess close to 20. Still no feeling in my left leg. It's pretty much just dead from nerve damage. I wear a full-time brace. My right foot, I have trouble standing.

When I came home, I was still in a wheelchair. I went to crutches, then a cane, to pretty much on my own. The main focus was to get to where I could stand and walk and carry my own self. I didn't want to be in that wheelchair forever.

I don't actually have many nightmares unless I go to sleep watching CNN or something like that about the war, or I go to bed thinking about my brother or my friends still over there. It's not that bad.

There's not really anything you can do about it. It just kind of goes away when it does. A lot of love around me kept me grounded, and pointed to the future instead of being stuck in that Iraq setting.

What happened hasn't changed who I am or where I came from. But it is a change of a lifestyle. Walking into a store where no one knew my name and now everyone knows it. I want to say, 'I'm normal, I'm not a celebrity.'

I've had a lot of support from my family, friends and the community. But definitely, when there's good, there is bad. There have been jealous people who thought I didn't deserve anything.

Some people just don't like me. I've had threats.

A couple of years ago, at a speaking thing, they got a phone call saying that if I showed up, they would bomb the place. It was stuff we took seriously, but I continued. I think it was mostly because I was a symbol of the war.

I do have feelings about the war, but I don't really talk about it. I have friends still over there, friends who have died over there, and family over there. I don't regret anything I did. I wish things had turned out differently for my friends. But I would still sign up and do it all over again.

My brother has been deployed several times. My family gets a little scared, but it's something he wanted to do as well. He's serious about what he does in his work and we're pretty confident that he'll come home to us.

I still go to therapy, still working on mainly strengthening the back and legs. I still have a limp and back problems. But overall, I'm feeling good -- great, actually, with the baby.

With my internal injuries, the doctors weren't sure about children. Until I actually tried to have kids, that would be the only real way to find out if I could carry. It was a bit of a concern because I always wanted children. So this is just so exciting.

For now, I'm just hanging out with my boyfriend and my family. I kind of have a boring life, but that's something I enjoy, just lying around and being lazy for a while. The main focus now is school and physical therapy and the baby, to finally graduate and get a degree and work it from there.

My life hasn't been quite like everyone else's. I don't know if I'm actually different, but I experienced Iraq and it has more of a meaning. My friends didn't make it home, but I have an opportunity to be here, to continue my life.

I've always been an independent woman. But I'm not sure I always had that inner strength. That came with time, it developed. It took all of this to realize how strong I am, and to test that.

You see people with prosthetics running and it's amazing. They're running. I played sports all my life and I don't know that I was necessarily good at it, but I enjoyed getting out there. I want to be able to run.