July 22 — Pfc. Jessica D. Lynch, whose ordeal as a wounded prison of war in Iraq made her a symbol of American bravery and stirred complaints of Pentagon media manipulation, returned to a hero's homecoming in this tiny Appalachian town today.
Private Lynch, whose leg was badly fractured in a vehicle crash just before her capture on March 23, looked briefly stunned as she was wheeled before a bank of television cameras under a huge white tent here. But she seemed to gather strength and poise as she read a short statement, giving most Americans the opportunity to hear her waif-like voice for the first time.
"I've read stories that said when I was captured, I said, `I'm an American soldier, too,' " the 20-year-old Private Lynch said. "Those stories were right. Those were my words. I'm an American soldier, too."
Riding atop the back seat of a Mustang convertible, her blonde tresses tucked under her black Army beret, Private Lynch was then driven by state troopers through streets lined with hundreds of flag-waving residents to her family's home in nearby Palestine.
"She looked as good as the day she left for the war," said a neighbor, Adam Szabo, 36, moments after a smiling Private Lynch passed by. "I could never have gone through what she did. The fear she felt must have been incredible."
The Blackhawk helicopter that brought Private Lynch here from Washington touched down just before 2 p.m. Eastern time. She had been undergoing treatment for multiple broken bones and other injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington since early April.
Awaiting her arrival were marching bands, thousands of well-wishers, and hundreds of signs, many bearing her picture and virtually all carrying the same message: "Welcome Home Jessica."
Private Lynch, who is still recuperating, was taken by motorcade to a park next to the Little Kanawha River, where she spoke publicly for the first time since her story became part of the lore of the Iraq war.
"I would like to say thank you to everyone who hoped and prayed for my safe return," Private Lynch began. "For a long time I had no idea so many people knew I had been missing. But I've read thousands of letters, many of them from children who offered messages of hope and faith."
Private Lynch, who was introduced by Gov. Bob Wise, a Democrat, and Army Specialist Greg Lynch, her brother, added, "I'm proud to be a soldier in the Army."
Earlier this week Private Lynch was awarded a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for her service in the war. But the issue of what exactly happened from March 23, when her company was ambushed near the city of Nassiriya, and April 1, when she was rescued, is the subject of controversy.
Private Lynch became a national hero after news reports quoted unidentified American officials saying she fought fiercely before being captured, firing on Iraqi forces despite sustaining multiple gunshot and stab wounds.
In the end, however, Army investigators concluded she was injured when her Humvee crashed into another vehicle in the convoy of her 507th Maintenance Company vehicles after it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
The Army said the convoy blundered into an ambush after getting lost, and that many of the unit's weapons malfunctioned during the battle.
Video taken during her rescue by American special forces who raided the Iraqi hospital where she was being treated has also been released.
But Iraqi doctors at the hospital have said the Americans faced no resistance during the rescue, and that the danger of the operation had been exaggerated.
Private Lynch even thanked "several Iraqi citizens who helped save my life while I was in their hospital."
Earlier reports said Private Lynch could remember nothing about the ambush or the rescue.
Her parents have said they do not want her to be seen as a hero.
Nevertheless, the national exposure sparked by Private Lynch's capture and rescue has created something of an economic boom for Wirt County, which not only has the smallest population of any county in West Virginia, but also its highest unemployment rate, at 15.1 percent.
The tax base had deteriorated so badly that last year West Virginia voters had to pass a $557,000, three-year levy to save the county from going completely broke.
The run-up to her homecoming today has led to an influx of visitors, including many journalists eager to record Private Lynch's first public words since March, when she was wounded, captured and rescued in Iraq.
The inflow of visitors has created unprecedented traffic in Elizabeth, the county seat of Wirt County, which has about 1,000 residents and is about 225 miles from Washington, D.C.
But since Elizabeth is hardly a commercial hub, much of the financial benefit has flowed into nearby towns. Hotel rooms in Parkersburg, which is about 20 miles away, were booked solid on Monday night, according to The Associated Press.
Despite the joyous nature of the occasion, security was tight throughout the area.
Sniper teams from the West Virginia State Police were positioned along the route of Private Lynch's motorcade, and staff from the state's Division of Natural Resources patrolled the Little Kanawha River, which flows beside the park where Private Lynch appeared.
Officers with bomb-sniffing dogs swept the media tent at the park.
After she addressed the well-wishers and the nation, Private Lynch traveled in a military motorcade to her home in Palestine, a town of about 300 residents some five miles from Elizabeth.
In Palestine, visitors could pick up an envelope with one of 2,000 commemorative stamps postal workers made available on Tuesday morning. More than 100 had been sold by 10 o'clock this morning, Berylann Lewis, the Palestine postmaster, told The Associated Press.