The Laughing Wolf

An Open Letter To Ms. Jessica Lynch

I wish that Trent Telenko had been wrong. I wish that I had been wrong. I will not insult you by saying that I am sorry for what has happened, because what was done was not the result of action or inaction on my part. My sincere hope is that those who abused you have paid the ultimate price, or will do so shortly. I regret what happened, just as I regret every injury and death in any military campaign.

In the purest of military terms you are right, you are not a hero. You did not heroically resist those who attacked your unit, for you did not have the chance to do so. It is difficult to be a hero when unconscious or incapacitated. Your weapon was useless, and that was both your fault and very much the fault of the various COs in your chain of command.

Yet, you are proving to be a hero. In the broadest terms, you are the hero chosen by The Media, the New Media, the military, and the Government for you put a face to the suffering and the action of the fastest major military campaign in history. You are the face of all the wounded, of the blessedly few prisoners, and the dead.

More importantly, you show yourself to be a hero by your actions. I look forward to reading your story when the full edition becomes available. Based on it, and your comments and interviews, allow me to tell you why you are a hero.

In my years, I have known several people who were raped and/or abused. I am one of the latter, and mine is a very lucky thing, for it was not nearly as bad as it might have been. It is not an easy thing to talk about, even if it was done when you were unconscious. There is a shame to it, a fear that goes with it, a guilt. That all of this is crap is beside the point, it is something you feel bone deep. Your frank discussions of what is known, of what happened to you, will help those who have suffered. It will help them to come forward, to cope, to deal, and most of all, to heal.

There are other aspects of your injuries, from the wreck and from the abuse, that most people shy away from. The lack of control of body functions, the pain, the limitations – these are all things that can be extremely hard for people to face, much less to discuss. Again, your frank discussions will help others to have the courage and the strength to come forward and to be honest with the world and with themselves.

One of the more telling things to my mind is that you appear to hate the label of hero. In my life, I have been lucky enough to know several true heroes, military and other, and each passionately detested the label. None felt that they had earned it. Most learned to deal with it, and they used it to help others, to set an example, and to make some important points along the way. You join the ranks of those who have this opportunity, and I hope that you will eventually accept that mantle and use it to continue doing good on as many fronts as possible.

It will not be easy. If you study the history of the media, of media-made heroes, and of real heroes, you will find that there is a detestable pattern that occurs. They are seized upon and built up to impossible standards, and then there is an attack on them, to tear them down to much less than they were. It is one of the worst things about the media, but it has been the case for a hundred to two hundred years now. It will happen to you.

You may have already seen it in some stories, but everything you do now will be subject to it, and will see everything you do put under a microscope. That will not be easy, especially as you go through the normal problems of life and the abnormal problems that your injuries and experiences will bring. It will not be fair, but it will be there. Remember in the days ahead that it is not the stumble or the fall that decides anything, but how and if you pick yourself up and keep going. Much will be made of the stumbles and falls, and they will be splashed world-wide. What will truly shape things, and allow you to do more and wider good than you can imagine, is the story of your getting back up again. It will not get the exposure of the stumbles and falls, but it will get out and it will make a difference.

You are a hero because you are setting an example for everyone. Yours is an example that does not require being in the military, female, or anything else. The example you set, the courage, honesty, and integrity shown are things everyone can and should emulate. You set the example, and by being yourself you issue a challenge to everyone: If I can do this, so can you.

For that, you are indeed a hero though you like it not. I hope that you will continue to be so, for the world needs everyday heroes. I wish you well in the days ahead, in your life, and in living up to the challenge you have set for others, and for yourself.

-30-