Pfc. Jessica Lynch long ago laid to rest the claim that she fought until her ammunition ran out in an Iraqi ambush one year ago. But the U.S. Army will posthumously award a Silver Star medal for distinguished gallantry to an Oregon soldier who did fight during the ambush. And his family believes he was the source of the reports of a soldier who fought to the last. Sgt. Donald Walters of Salem was killed in the ambush of the 507th Army Maintenance Company that left 11 American soldiers dead and six captive, including Lynch. Walters, 33, may have been the first casualty in the March 23, 2003 firefight.
It was hardly Jessica Lynch’s fault that the feminists in the Pentagon attempted to use her to further their agenda to destroy the American military by feminizing it. I just felt sorry for her, but was disgusted to see the spin doctors try to rob Sgt. Walters of the honor that was due him. I doubted the Lynch story from the beginning, having once written a short story about the deification of an all-female US military unit that is hailed as the American Amazons until they are routed, leaving their wounded behind to be dragged through the streets. Fighting to the last is simply not, understandably enough, a female trait. You need a lot of testosterone to do anything that bravely and stubbornly heroic, which is no doubt one reason why 19 year-old soldiers are preferred to 40 year-olds.
Anyhow, I’m glad the Army finally saw fit to give Sgt. Walters his due. May he rest in peace and honor.