No matter how you look at it, the fack of the matter is that they both were captured and they both endured the psyciological toture of being a prisoner. for someone to hold your life in your hands (especialy the enemy), it is a scary thought. as far as the media attention, they both should have gotten it. They should have been on Dateline and all of those other news specials togther. On the Disability issue, Lynch recieved 80%, not to mention the extra money given to her on the side, while Johnson only recieved 30%. if you are not going to give them both 80%, then shown Johnson a little appreciation by boosting that percentage number. No matter how you put it, they both endured alot, so make sure they are both taken care of.

The Army doesn't give Jessica any money on the side. The 80% vs 30% is strictly following military procedure. Jessica has a spinal injury that has paralyzed her bladder and bowels (most likely permanently). Her left foot is crushed to the point of being numb all the time. She has pins and plates in her legs and back. She is 19 and moves like an 80yr old.

Shoshana was shot in both ankles. She was able to walk when returning from Iraq. I am sure she will suffer psychological trauma the rest of her life just as so many war veterans do. The fact of the matter is, we can't afford, and shouldn't pay everyone the same amount of disability. That is why there are procedures implemented. There have to be guidelines.

I agree that they both endured a lot while in service for our country. I agree that the should both be taken care of. I am not even saying that I am personally more interested in what happened to Jessica vs what happened to Shoshana. I am just saying I agree with the way the military is handling their disability. I am saying that the difference is not due to race.

If people want the TV stations to cover Shoshana's story, they should call, write or email. They will certainly do it if it means enough people will watch.

Of cousre they will not make Lynch's extra finainces public but dont rule it out. iam not a racist but i believe that the "White Media" promotes their heroes to the extreme. i dont put no blame on Lynch for all of the attention, but what you should do for one you should do for all as far as the media goes for telling the stories of soldiers in combat. iam quite sure you are a wise indivdual Joe User. i think you know as well as everyone else in this county knows that the military does play favorates. as far as people wanting to here the Shoshana Johnson story, people shouldnt have to go through all of that, the media's job is to get inportant information out to the public no matter requested or not.

I believe that the military is going way overboard with the issue. Lynch was given a Purple Heart Medal. She was not the only POW. I believe if she gets a PHM so should the other POW's. They all risked their lives and some even died. I don't have a problem with Lynch being given 80% disability vs Johnson's 30%, but I do have a problem knowing that Johnson is not recognized for anything. I once had a commander who served in Vienam when he was 18. The man just received his Purple Heart Medal 3 years ago and he cried like a baby. He pulled his comrades to safety. What did Lynch do? She curled up in a ball and prayed? Never mind that she was taught SPORTS (all you military people know what that is) to unjam her weapon. Can we be reasonable here? Fair is fair. My opinion is that she did nothing to deserve such a distinguished award. We are taught to avoid capture at all costs and that if we are captured then we do not give any info whatsoever. I don't see that she avoided capture. She still had rounds in her M16 which means that she did not apply SPORTS and she did not try to avoid capture. And if her weapon was jammed what about taking the weapon of a fallen soldier near her to fire? What about the grenades that I am sure she was issued?

julygem13, I did a search about the Purple Heart and it looks like the criteria to recieve this medal changed in 1988 to include "any soldier killed or wounded in the service of their country". Shoshana Johnson recieved the same medals as Jessica Lynch (Bronze Star, Purple Heart and POW).

JillUser, what is this a prizefight? Welcome to Caesar’s Palace! Tonight’s bill: Jessica vs. Shoshana! 12 rounds of boxing. Winner takes all! Let's Get Ready to RUUUUUMMMMBBBLLLE! This is ridiculous! Why is Jessica receiving more benefits than Shoshana? Could it be racially motivated? Well it wouldn’t be a stretch if it were given our country’s sterling record on race relations. But why are we even arguing over this? Both women were in mortal danger and for you to be so dismissive of one woman's injuries over another I think is tacky.

"Oh Jessica has no spine left, her eyes fell out, she can only speak in broken Arabic, her arms were reattached on backward, her skin exploded and she can't taste anything with hot sauce on it and by the way the other girl has some leg problems and has bad dreams"

Have you ever been shot in both legs? I haven't been shot in one so I can't imagine that being fun! And I love the way you throw the "...depression as a result of torture." thing in at the end. I don't know about you but being sent in harm's way by your commander, getting attacked, having friends and co-workers shot and killed, then you being shot and on top of all that you’re taken prisoner and held captive by the enemy thousands of miles from home. That sounds like it would leave some permanent damage to me.

I worked for a company located in New York City on the corner of Broadway and Vessey Street. Now 'round bout September 11, 2001 I was working at my desk when I heard a boom. My co-worker ran into my office and told me that a plane just rammed into Tower 1 of the World Trade Center. We all rushed outside and looked up. My office just happened to be across the street from the World Trade Center. We stood there in shock for about 10 minutes when out of the blue WHAM! Another plane! Now I was not hit by falling debris. I was not burned. I did watch people jump to their deaths and I did have to run for my life and hide in a newsstand with a very distraught Pakistani man when Tower 2 collapsed. Now I don't think I deserve any compensation like the victims or their families but don't ever be dismissive of anyone's experience. I still dream about that day. And about the foot still left in its loafer they found in front of my office's front door.

The point I’m trying to make is why is it in America, it has to be one way or another? My way or your way? It has to be Jessica’s story or Shoshana’s story. It has to be the white girl or the black girl. Shoshana was the first African-American female POW. That is at least an interesting story. Why not celebrate both women. Injuries are something tangible, yes this women is in much worse shape than the other but I say compensate them both 100%. All soldiers should be compensated 100%. Whether it’s a paper cut or an amputation. They went to war was hurt in the line of duty and now they have to live with the situation permanently. Or better yet, why not use this incident to show the stupidity of this conflict and get all of our kids the hell outta there! At last count I think there were over 520 deaths and thousands of injuries. Are all of those soldiers getting book deals and interviews on GMA or the Today Show? Guess we learned nothing from Vietnam.

I fell that the situation can be said to be racist. How can you or anyone else say that Jessica suffered more when there is no account of what happened to her? I think that Shoshana should recieve the same publicity as Jessica. Just because Jessica was the only survivor of her group, doesnt make her a hero.

When I first heard of our service men and women who were reported as captured and missing. My heart went out equally to them all. I prayed and asked God to keep his hand on each and every one of them without the slightest thought of their color sex, or if they were from the north, south, east, or west.
The news media is always looking for someone to make a hero. Maybe it is the news media that we should all be saying a prayer for.

This sounds good and logical but the true be told is that media attention influences public opinion and managerial action. The Army made a hero out of Lynch even though she later disclaimed that title. They felt compelled to give her a disability allowance fit for a hero. She should get the 80% disability and even more for what she's been through. Johnson's story was in the noise. Most people don't know about her medical difficulties because the media didn’t cover them to the extent that they covered Lynch's troubles. So how could the public (you) claim that Johnson deserves less disability than Lynch? Indeed your comments made here are made based on what you have heard or read about the differences between the two cases. What you know primarily came from the coverage of the two stories in the media and in this chat room. Because there wasn’t equal coverage of the two stories, your answer seems logical and considerate. But is it? Would your feelings have changed if there had been equal coverage of the two stories? Would your feelings have changed if you could identify with Shoshana as she recovered from her injuries even though we know on the surface the difference between their injuries seem unparalleled?

Finally, would you think you were being treated fairly if you where in Shoshana Johnson's position? I dare say you wouldn't and, if you were black, you might wonder was race a factor in the Army's decision to award you a lower disability settlement.

Anyway you slice this story, it still reeks of favoritisms toward Lynch. Shoshanna should get the same treatment from the military. Public opinion in book deals, appearances, and American generosity will continue to compensate these two individuals for the rest of their lives. The Army could have avoided the scrutiny of the public by being impartial.

Tj, I sympathize with Shoshana. As I said early on, I originally questioned if the discrepancy was becasue of racial reasons. You don't need a lot of info to know that you "saw" Shoshana walking as she returned from Iraq. You merely need to see how Jessica moves like an 80yr old now to know some extent of her injuries. The doctors reports say her bladder and bowels are paralyzed. If you are so into sympathizing, can you imagine that?

I am in no way excusing the way the media covered things. I stick to my guns however, that the military, in regards to awarding disability and medals have been fair. I think Shoshana was probably much more traumatized than Jessica since she was painfully aware of everything happening to her and around her the entire time. The same holds true for her fellow POWs. Noone can measure emotional pain though.

I feel I can say what I said because I didn't rely on just the media coverage. I read about everything I could find regarding, militarty policy, interviews regarding both ladies, history of POWs, etc. I wrote what I did because I had the same knee jerk reaction that many have had regarding this...it must be racial. I educated myself on the subject and now say it is not.

The way I see it, you can either take the knee jerk, bleeding heart reaction, or you can get all of the information and try to make an educated, impartial opinion. It is always easy to sit back and say what should have been done.

Dear Mr Spike Lee,
Please make a movie about this. Thankyou in advance.......Joe

What enemy!!?? The hospital was abandoned by hostile forces!! As a former servicemember that has also seen action (Operation Just Cause), I understand that war, know matter the length, is hell. But when you take a situation such as this and create heroes based on nothing more than media overkill, you truly dishoner all servicemen.

i agree with rodriguez shoshana was not only tortured but she was shot in both legs and ffrom what i understand her legs wernt broke from the iraquis they were broke becuse when her crew got lost the truck had flipped over on her andccrushed her legs,, now tell me this they were both captured one was tortured and the other was "not", tell me why they give jessica a interview on the news with diane sawyer and parades all over town and shes getting all these metals, tell me what she did, for being captured and the first person rescued, what about all the other people in shoshanas truck that wer captured and actually placed on t.v. what about everyone else who did help to save her. shoshana didnt just have her legs broken she was shot in both legs, it was either her legs or her feet. and can you please tell me why they did a movie about her, what did she do that was so great, she got captured, but you never hear about the people who wer actually "victims" and prisoners or were tortured and put on television for the whole country to see, no they dont make a movie about them, thats real interesting. i wanna hear your opinion about that. now let me clear something up, im not saying that im not glad that they were all rescued but you cant give all credit to one person.

Lila, if you read all of the comments on this article, most of your questions will be answered. You could always go online and do a little research too.

It is precisely because it is well known that Shoshana Johnson was held, shot and tortured by Iraqis that she would more likely be made into a hero. This is especially true because there are witnesses and there is film footage. Granted, it's easier for the government and the media to "fillin the blanks" regarding Jessica Lynch but it still doesn't negate the heroic story telling potential of Shoshana's war experiences.

Regarding the disability pay, no one will question the severity of Jessica Lynch's injuries but I don't see how anyone can justify paying Shoshana only 30% disability while Jessica gets 80%. Being captured, shot and tortured should count for more than 30% disability. Perhaps the bigger question is why both women didn't get 100% disability.