I want my life back, says celebrity soldier

A year ago today young Private First Class Jessica Lynch was dramatically sprung from an Iraqi hospital where she had been taken after her capture.

Her rescue, and the ambush which led to her detention, captivated the western world – although the details later turned out to be exaggerated.

A year on, Lynch, still suffering from her injuries, said she was grappling with the question of why she survived the attack when so many of her comrades died.

“I mean, obviously, there has to be a reason. I don’t know what it is yet, so I have to explore all these things to figure it out,” she said in an interview.

Lynch, who recently postponed her wedding to fiancé Sergeant Ruben Contreras, spends her days recuperating or giving motivational speeches.

She has also become something of a celebrity, invited to the Golden Globe Awards and recently honoured by Glamour Magazine.

“I’m just a country girl. It’s something I’m not used to, and I probably never will be,” said the 20-year-old.

“I do want my life back to normal, because it’s hard. It’s so hard.

“But at the same time I’m like: 'Wow! I get to go to New York. I get to go to Hollywood. I get to hang out with people like Britney and Leonardo.'"

Lynch is constantly asked for autographs and invited to give scores of speeches, but she cannot always oblige.

“I feel bad, but I can’t do them all,” she said.

Lynch was captured on March 23 last year when her 507th Maintenance Company became lost in the southern Iraqi desert and was ambushed in Nasiriyah.

The Humvee she was in was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed. Her best friend, Private First Class Lori Piestewa, was killed alongside 10 other soldiers.

Lynch suffered two spinal fractures, nerve damage and a shattered right arm, right foot and left leg.

According to medical records cited in her biography, she was also possibly raped during a three-hour gap that she cannot remember.

Her rescue on April 1 was recorded and beamed around the world. Meanwhile, accounts of her fighting bravely against dozens of Iraqi troops were given to the media.

However, it later turned out that Lynch did not fire a single shot in self-defence, and in fact curled up, severely wounded, while taking incoming fire.

Doctors at the hospital from which she was “rescued” later revealed they had tried to return her to US troops but their ambulance came under fire from the soldiers.

Lynch repeated in the interview that she felt “kind of used” by military officers and politicians in America who hyped her story to boost morale both within the ranks and at home.

Lynch now spends several hours a day in rehabilitation. She still cannot feel her left foot because of nerve damage, although doctors hope she will eventually have full control of the limb.

Lynch was given medical retirement from the army and an 80% disability pension.