The Jessica Book

Rick Bragg’s narrative reviewed in the New York Times.

Some reviewers have questioned whether, without the exploits initially attributed to her, there could be any power in Lynch’s narrative. (Though Bragg does not say so, the early error had a simple explanation. According to later news reports, the Army was intercepting Iraqi radio chatter, and overheard that a yellow-haired soldier from Lynch’s unit had indeed fought bravely and fallen; that soldier turned out to be a sergeant named Donald Walters. Interpreters confused the Arabic pronouns for ”he” and ”she” and thought it was Lynch.) Some of the best war writing, though, takes place along the confused margins of combat. And Bragg powerfully details the series of mistakes — exhaustion, vehicle malfunction, poor communication — that led the 507th into their ambush; these scenes are the high point of the book.

Here’s a UK-based story on Sgt. Walters, a cook who died in the attack.