Jessica Dawn Lynch (born April 26, 1983) is an American teacher, actress, and former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a private first class.

On April 24, 2007, she testified in front of United States Congress that she had never fired her weapon (her M16 rifle reportedly having jammed), and that she had been knocked unconscious when her vehicle crashed during the ambush.

She later completed Advanced Individual Training for her Military Occupational Specialty as a unit supply specialist (MOS 92Y) in the Quartermaster Corps at Fort Lee, Virginia.

On March 23, 2003, a convoy of the United States Army's 507th Maintenance Company and the 3rd Combat Support Battalion elements, led by a Humvee driven by Lori Piestewa, made a wrong turn and were ambushed near Nasiriyah, a major crossing point over the Euphrates northwest of Basra.

[7] Lynch, then a supply clerk with the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas, was wounded and captured by Iraqi forces.

[9] A video of some of the American prisoners of war, including Piestewa, was later shown around the world on Al Jazeera television.

In light of Mohammed's role in Lynch's rescue, he and his family were granted refugee status by the United States.

[11] Allegedly, al Rehaief returned to the checkpoint with five different maps of the hospital and the details of the security layout, reaction plan, and shift changes.

[15] According to certain accounts of doctors present during the raid, they were gathered into groups at gunpoint and treated as possible hostiles until they could be identified as being hospital staff.

One witness account claimed that the Special Operations Forces had foreknowledge that the Iraqi military had fled a day before they raided the hospital, and that the entire event was staged, even going so far as to use blanks to create the appearance that they were firing.

[16] In the initial press briefing on April 2, 2003, the Pentagon released a five-minute video of the rescue and claimed that Lynch had stab and bullet wounds, and that she had been slapped while on her hospital bed and interrogated.

She was categorically against mentioning the rape in the book, but Rick Bragg insisted, arguing that "people need to know what can happen to female soldiers in war[26]".

From Kuwait, Lynch was transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, where she was expected to recover fully from her injuries.

Lynch underwent back surgery on April 3 to correct a vertebra that was putting pressure on her spinal cord.

Upon her return she was greeted by thousands of West Virginia residents including her then-boyfriend, Army Sergeant Ruben Contreras.

[29][30][31] On April 12, 2003, Lynch was flown to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to undergo specialized treatment and rehabilitation.

While recovering in Washington, Lynch was inundated with gifts and flowers from well-wishers, so much so that she asked the public to send cards instead.

"[2] Despite the letters of support she received after her testimony before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Lynch says that she still gets hate mail from Americans who accuse her of making up the heroic acts attributed to her.

Critics have also accused the media of bias in the coverage of Lynch versus that of her fellow soldiers, Shoshana Johnson and Lori Piestewa.

All three were ambushed in the same attack during the Iraq War on March 23, 2003, with Piestewa being killed and Lynch and Johnson being injured and taken prisoner.

[41][42] On April 24, 2007, Lynch gave congressional testimony before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that the Pentagon had erroneously portrayed her as a "Rambo from the hills of West Virginia" when, in fact, she never fired a shot after her truck was ambushed.

[44]: 21  In a prepared statement, she said:[8][45][44]: 24–26 Lynch attended West Virginia University at Parkersburg on a full scholarship because of her military service.

[46] On May 6, 2006, Allison Barker of the Associated Press reported that Lynch, who had completed her freshman year, avoided talking about her military service at school, despite wearing a brace on her left foot protecting nerve damage from her capture: "I think people recognize who I am; they just don't make it obvious.

"[47] On August 24, 2006, Good Morning America Weekend Edition co-anchor Kate Snow reported that Lynch wrote a letter stating she would have a baby by the end of the year.

She made the statement: "I was not sure if this could ever happen for me, learning to walk again and coping with the internal injuries that I still deal with pale in comparison to the tremendous joy of carrying this child."

She gave birth on January 19, 2007, through a caesarean section, and named her daughter "Dakota Ann" after her fallen friend, Lori Ann Piestewa, the first woman of the U.S.-led Coalition killed in the Iraq War and the first Native American woman killed on foreign soil in an American war.