Former POW Jessica Lynch reflects on almost 20 years since her rescue

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) -

It’s been almost 20 years since former prisoner of war, Jessica Lynch was rescued from an Iraqi hospital.

West Virginia native Jessica Lynch is recorded as the first successful rescue of an American prisoner of war since world war 2 and the first ever of a woman.

Lynch joined the military after graduating high school in 2000 and deployed to Iraq in 2003.

She was taken as a prisoner of war after her convoy was ambushed on March 23rd, 2003.

After nine days she was rescued from a hospital by US Special Forces.

Over the past almost 20 years she’s participated in many different events across the country including throwing out the first pitch at a Texas Rangers game, speaking to kids at schools, and going to the Golden Globes

Last week, the Chicago White Sox chose Lynch and one other former POW as their “Hero of the Game”

She said she loved this particular event because she got to share it with another former POW.

Lynch explained that meeting veterans is one of her favorite things.

“Being able to hear their side of their story because sometimes those are the untold stories. Yeah, I think that’s definitely my favorite part about the past 20 years, is just being able to listen to other veterans and be there beside them.”

Lynch said that she tries to do as much as she can, especially in the community, but tries to stay below the radar.

On Friday we’ll hear more from Lynch and her experiences over the past 19 years in our This is Home Segment.