Discharged Lynch signs $1 M book deal

[dh2Carmen]

I guess half a mil is more than she would've made as a kindergarten teacher.


http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/book....ap/index.html

[Delilah]

Good for her.

I hope she gets her story out. I was quite tired of hearing the media's version of events.

[jannan]

I see it as just another way to exploit the suffering of the Iraqis and the americans and nothing more. she is not a hero to me, she is ignorant.

[dh2Carmen]

"Hilary", the article says that the million dollars will be divided between Lynch and her 'co-writer'.

Maybe Elizabeth Smart's family is a good example with their movie/book deals. Lynch had the movie already, here is the book. It doesn't seem enough for these types to simply have an experience. Got to profit.

[Trishy]

The other side of the coin is that her injuries were such that she probably would never have been able to be a kindergarten teacher. It's doubtful if she'll be able to lift anything heavy. And probably would find being pregnant a nightmare as well.

She was medically retired from the Army and will be receiving disability payments. I am not discounting her ordeal but it's not like she will not be getting money from other sources than this book deal.
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/...ew02_Lynch.asp

[Delilah]

I'm not going to pass judgement

on what she has to say until she actually says it. But her silence hasn't helped matters.

Alot of troops were fed Shrub's garbage about having to go to Iraq "for our freedom", and may not have been able to sort through what we knew and didn't know about WMD. I also hope she doesn't exploit the Iraqis and the war for personal gain. For all I know, she may decide to contribute some of her book proceeds to UNICEF. But given the fact that we've already had one story emerge about our disabled soldiers becoming homeless (http://www.democracynow.org/article..../09/02/1416256), I can understand that she might look for financial security for herself as well.

[dh2Carmen]

[i]Originally posted by trishshack
She was medically retired from the Army and will be receiving disability payments. I am not discounting her ordeal but it's not like she will not be getting money from other sources than this book deal.

What makes Lynch different than her peers who also serve in the armed forces and do not expect to make anywhere close to (some portion of) a million dollars, disabled or not? Lynch joined the military with hopes of obtaining an education toward a career as a kindergarten instructor. Hardly a 'get rich' plan at all.

She should not be expecting any monies from any other sources, including book deals, no matter what her military duties. She isn't special, she is an honorably discharged vet.

[kama'aina mama]

I don't have any issue with her one way or another. Military disability is not very much money so it's nice she will have a little extra. I'm just not at interested in her story. I would much rather read a book written by Shoshanna Johnson. I guess a black single mother just isn't as interesting to the publicity machine.

[Lucky Charm]

I'm just not at interested in her story.

me neither!

[Delilah]

A poor, uneducated girl from WV

gets a shot at half a million dollars to improve her life, help take care of her uncertain future (while the Pentagon closes VA hospitals), and possibly help the lives around her. I bet she would hope everyone in her unit could do the same.

If the other (gag) "heroes" are not approached by some greedy publisher wanting to make a buck off of their injuries and pain (and not just theirs), should Lynch turn down her offer? I would hope not. An opportunity to tell your story and make money and get yourself out of near poverty doesn't come too often. She doesn't deserve it any more than the others, but that doesn't mean she should dismiss the offer, IMO.

I just hope her story doesn't promote Bush's hateful foreign policy, and I hope she doesn't alter the essence and facts of her story to satisfy the publisher.

[Quirky]

I won't read it, but hey, she's just as entitled to cash in on her 15 minutes of fame as the next person. I wonder, though, whether she'll share any of the proceeds with the Iraqi couple who risked their lives to let the US forces know that she was being held in that hospital. Betcha they could use the money too.

[Tigerchild]

Originally posted by Hilary
I didn't know she would get disability payments. I know that those with GWS haven't got them, so I assumed she wouldn't.

Oh, don't worry about that, Hilary. Vet bennies are slashed every year, so she probably won't get them for very long. (Think American social security here)

Directed out to the rest of the thread (and not Hilary in specific)...

I think people may be confusing several things here (though all of them suck, as far as amount of $$ you get). First, there's social security disability. There's the low cost or free medical care that disabled vets can get at VA Hospitals (if they can get in). There is also the low cost disability insurance that some people get through the military. People with GWS have now been cleared to use VA facilities, but because their disability is not officially recognized, they can't really qualify for the military disability benefits. However, considering Ms. Lynch has multiple compound fractures in her limbs and spine...well, that's something that can't be denied, neh? There will be plenty of folks in Afghanistan and Iraq that will be getting military disability benefits (such as they are, I don't think people realize how much they really do suck rocks), what with all the amputations and paralyzations that are happening. Let's not forget that whenever you hear of one or two deaths from mines or bombs, they are not telling you about the handful of severe injuries that also occured with the death.

Are we saying, in this thread, that NO disabled veterans of this war should get any type of disability payment or access to VA medical treatment? Because those people are just as "ignorant" as Lynch is, if the main qualification for that is being in the military itself. Or do we want to penalize Lynch because she's young, white, cute, and/or was made into a media darling (through no fault of her own, I doubt she was rooting for the wrong turn down the road or was happy to be that injured so that she could be famous for a month or two and then be forgotten about in a year)?

And really, what is $1M to a sports star salary (they still get that even if they're under investigation for rape, assault, or DWI), the winner of American Idol (or one of the other game/reality shows), Haliburton contracts, or Ollie North's salary as a talk show host? I am pretty sure that the news anchors who covered her story probably make that and then some AFTER taxes (Maybe even more, since they probably have access to more loopholes.).

Why all the mean spiritedness towards this girl? She's going to be in pain the rest of her life, she's going to be partially immobile the rest of her life, and I'd be damn suprised if she didn't have a traumatic brain injury with all the rest of that stuff. If she can get a cool 500K or less (after taxes) to help get a nest egg (the book deal, I presume, is NOT an annual salary), then more power to her.

[Tracy]

Slain Soldier's Father Criticizes Lynch's Book Deal

http://www.ksat.com/news/2455232/detail.html

COMFORT, Texas -- The father of a Comfort soldier killed in an ambush in Iraq that former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch survived said that Lynch's million-dollar book deal will taint the memory of the soldiers killed in the ambush."Pretty severe, isn't it?" Randy Kiehl (pictured, left), the father of Army Spc. James Kiehl, said in an exclusive interview with KSAT 12 News Wednesday from his home in Comfort. "That she makes money off the death of my son and off the deaths of so many others."

James Kiehl (pictured, below) was among seven members of the 507th Maintenance Company stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso killed in the ambush on March 23 near An Nasiriyah. Lynch survived the attack and was taken prisoner of war. She was later rescued from a hospital and became a national hero.

On Tuesday, a publisher announced that Lynch signed a $1 million deal for a book that will tell the story about her capture and rescue.

"Where's the million-dollar book deal for the other members of the 507th who were killed?" Randy Kiehl said. "How do they tell their story? "Now, she's a profiteer because what she did was in the line of duty."

Randy Kiehl said he also blames the publisher and others "who waved that million-dollar check in front of her."

[Tracy]

by the way.... I wouldn't hold your breathe for it to be a rivoting minute by minute account.... considering.......


"Sources Say Jessica Lynch Has Amnesia



NEW YORK — Rescued POW Jessica Lynch (search) says she can't remember anything about her time in captivity in Iraq -- a huge obstacle for military investigators who were hoping the 19-year-old soldier would be the key to revealing Iraqi war crimes, Fox News has learned."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,85936,00.html


unless of course creative license takes place which is entirely possible given the history around this and of course, the co-writer's background... heck, it will probably be written by his intern.

[Delilah]

If Fox or CNN wrote it,

she'd have been shot, stabbed, tortured, raped, brainwashed, etc. I think they alluded to all of these injuries before she was "rescued" from the people who tried to bring her back to the Army.

[JessicaS]

And she will probably continue to have "amnesia" until she is discharged.

[Tracy]

i sincerely wonder if they will even discuss the doctor and nurses who tried to give her back to the us army but where shot at and had to return to the hospital.

that might be the amnesia stuff.