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Born 1983

Palestine, West Virginia

U.S. Army soldier who was taken prisoner and later rescued during the 2003 Iraq War

"For twenty years, no one knew my name. Now they want my autograph. But I'm not a hero."

Jessica Lynch in I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story.

Private First Class Jessica Lynch is one of the most famous U.S. soldiers to fight in the 2003 Iraq War. On March 23, Lynch's army unit was ambushed in the city of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq by resistance fighters. Badly injured in the fighting, Lynch was captured and taken to an Iraqi hospital. Nine days later, she was rescued in dramatic fashion by U.S. Special Forces commandos. She was widely hailed as a hero, although she later insisted that she was only a "survivor."

Small-town girl joins the army

Born in 1983 in...