The circus of events surrounding Pfc. Jessica Lynch has finally come full circle. The Jessica Lynch story, sensationalized by the media and used strategically by the government, is finally being told by the young woman herself. And while it’s not surprising that Lynch is willing to tell all in her new book in return for a $500,000 check, what she has to say is even less surprising — as a matter of fact, it’s something the American public should have known all along.

You see, Lynch is admitting what no one else involved in the whole mess ever wanted to: she’s not a hero. At best, she’s simply a survivor.

While some might balk at this assertion, it definitely bears weight. The military personnel who touted the young woman as an “unlikely hero” were, indeed, right all along: It is unlikely she was ever a hero. But because the government and the media stood to gain from the young woman’s ordeal, Jessica Lynch quickly became a household name.

Now the true accounts of what really happened when Lynch’s 507th Maintenance Company convoy was ambushed March 23 in Nasiriyah after missing a turn are being revealed in her authorized biography “I Am A Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story.” Written by New York Times writer Rick Bragg, the book reportedly debunks popular myths that U.S. soldiers waged a daring rescue to save her. According to an MSNBC article, the book “suggests camera-toting U.S. fighters met no resistance as they rushed a Nasiriyah hospital April 1 to retrieve the prisoner of war.” The book also describes the Iraqi doctors and nurses who cared for Lynch as kind individuals who gave her the best care possible in her situation, even if keeping her alive meant working at their own risk.

In the book, Lynch also denies early reports that she shot at the Iraqis who ambushed the convoy. She says her gun was jammed with sand, making it impossible for her to fire any shots. Lynch was unconscious for several hours after the ambush and remembers nothing until she woke up in an Iraqi hospital. She suffered from broken bones, torn flesh and two spinal fractures, and she may have been raped.

Yet Lynch is adamant that she never wanted to become a national figure. Instead, she accuses the government of exaggerating and exploiting her story in order to improve their own image.

Lynch was quoted in an MSNBC news report as saying, “We went and we did our job, and that was to go to the war, but I wish I hadn’t done it — I wish it had never happened. I’d give four hundred billion dollars. I’d give anything.”

It is sad that the story of Lynch’s ordeal spun so far out of control that it has taken the better part of a whole book to set the facts straight. The media, eager for the emergence of a patriotic story from the war in Iraq, dramatically sensationalized the events in a way that would capture the attention of the nation and bolster ratings. The U.S. government, desperate for support for the war, fed the media with exaggerated tidbits of Lynch’s story and did not go far enough in publicly correcting rumors about how the events played out. Both saw Lynch as a perfect POW poster child — she was the first bit of positive news in a war that had gotten off to a pretty rough start.

What they didn’t foresee, however, was that one day Lynch would be willing and able to tell her own story — and that hers would be a story dramatically different than the one woven by major news networks and Pentagon officials. While the media blitz generated for the promotion of Lynch’s new book undoubtedly has some government officials feeling slightly uneasy, Lynch shouldn’t be gloating, either.

While Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen calls Lynch a hero for “telling the truth,” the reason why Lynch is telling her story in the first place must be considered. She’s certainly not anxious to throw herself even further into the public eye. Instead, she’s simply marketing her story in a fresh way that sets it apart from nearly all accounts that the American public has already heard. In return, Lynch and Bragg are splitting the book’s $1 million advance payment. In true American style, Lynch is profiting off of her sensationalized story. Does Lynch have every right to sell her story and tell the world what really happened to her? Of course she does. Should she receive money for doing so? If the book sells: absolutely.

But the real heroes in this situation are not writing books or appearing on morning talk shows. That’s because they aren’t able to — they are the men and women who gave their lives while fighting Iraqis during the ambush. Eleven American soldiers died that morning in Nasiriyah, and six others, including Lynch, were captured. Yet the American public knows none of their names and hasn’t heard any of their courageous stories.

Every single American who volunteers to serve their country deserves our utmost respect and gratitude. But let’s not let those who fought courageously to save the lives of others be forgotten in the midst of a sensationalized circus of events.

Kari Bellingham ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism.