2024-04-21 11:00:16
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia veteran and former POW Jessica Lynch says she will listen to all female veterans returning home from overseas.
Gov. Jim Justice announced last week that Lynch, a Wirt County native, will help the state Department of Veterans Affairs with its new Women Veterans Program.
“The main role is to give them the help they need, especially the benefits. Even if it’s just to be there, an ear or a shoulder to cry on, because sometimes that’s what we need,” she said during a recent appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.”
The program will seek to connect women who may have experienced traumatic conditions during their time in the military and connect them with benefits.
Lynch is a motivational speaker for military members, but she said she wants to hear others’ stories, not just share her own. A group she hears about the most is Vietnam veterans.
“Just being able to listen to what they had to deal with and the pain and the suffering, also the things they’re still going through, because unfortunately that era was kind of forgotten. There are a lot of Vietnam vets who haven’t gotten the benefits they deserve,” Lynch said.
Women, in particular, have different needs when they come home from war, Lynch said. Their PTSD may be elevated and some are mothers who need additional help.
“We all go through obstacles, struggles and especially when we come to war, it’s a different lifestyle. Again, it’s about making sure they’re okay,” she said.
Lynch, who turns 41 this month, was captured for nine days in 2003 during the Iraq war. She was just 19 years old when the military convoy her maintenance company was part of was ambushed by Iraqi troops in Iraq. A fellow soldier was killed in the attack and Lynch was seriously injured when her truck overturned. Lynch was held captive for nine days before a special forces crew rescued her from a hospital.
She said she is still dealing with its physical impact and has since had more than 20 surgeries.
“I get to the point where it doesn’t hurt anymore, if it makes sense, where you just learn to accept it, yes, it hurts, but you move on because there’s nothing you can do,” she said.
Lynch was an elementary teacher in West Virginia.
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