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In this podcast episode, host Amanda interviews Jessica Lynch, an American teacher, actress, and former U.S. soldier. Jessica shares her story of being deployed to Baghdad in 2003 and the traumatic events that followed, including being injured and sexually assaulted. She emphasizes the importance of sharing the truth and dispelling misinformation about her experience. Jessica also highlights the stories of her fellow soldiers and the impact their stories have on the audience. She uses the phrase "I remember" to emphasize the personal nature of her story and the importance of the truth. The episode concludes with a discussion on the value of truth over sensationalism. Hello, hello, hello! Welcome back to the Rhetoric Room podcast. I'm your host, Amanda. Now, for this week's episode, we are joined by the one, the only, Jessica Lynch, an American teacher, actress, and former U.S. soldier, and receiver of the Bronze Star Medal and Powell Medal. So, Ms. Lynch, I heard your speech to the House Oversight Congressional Committee in 2007, and I found it quite interesting on how all these events happened to you while and after you were serving. If the listeners are not quite too familiar with your story, can you give us a quick overview? Well, I enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2001 with my brother Greg, and in 2003, I was being deployed to Baghdad. During the journey, we had stopped in a city called An-Nasiriyah, and that was the day I will truly never forget. I was with my unit and two others from a different unit, and as we were trying to leave the city, we could tell the hospitality and dangers were increasing. I remember seeing people on the roofs with weapons watching us, and then suddenly, a rocket-propelled grenade hit my vehicle, and we hit another vehicle in front of us. We faced many casualties. Three had died from the impact, and Lori, my best friend, and I were taken to the hospital. Unfortunately, she passed away nine days later, and many others had died while we were in the hospital, and I thought I was next. My injuries were horrible. I couldn't feel anything below my waist, I had a six-inch gash in my head, and many of my bones were broken. I was sexually assaulted sometime during the hospital stay as well. I didn't know where I was, and certainly gave the doctors a hard time. Eventually, I was rescued on April 1, 2003. Wow. What an incredibly heartbreaking story. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Now, I want to know, what was the purpose behind your speech? Well, my purpose is to share the importance of the truth of my story and stories of others like mine out there. Oh, okay. What happened or what moved you to make the claims that you did in your speech? Because I'm aware that people were spreading misinformation about you. Well, I was most certainly confused. For sure, I was happy that those stories about me did some good in inspiring the nation, but none of it was true. And I think that really ties into what you said towards the end of the speech. And I recall you saying, and I quote, At my parents' home in Wirt County, West Virginia, I was under siege by media, all repeating the story of the little girl Rambo from the hills of West Virginia who went down fighting. You refer to yourself as the little girl. Why do you think it was important to include this? Well, obviously it's partially because I wanted to give some context to my life, but I also felt like it left more of a lasting impression that I am still human. A person with parents, a real life, a story, not a romanticized version to make me seem like a hero people wanted me to be. I noticed that you listed others who have served alongside you. What impact did this have on the audience of your speech? I think what I intend by listing other people definitely show that there are many stories. The people who serve the country with me, especially Lori and my brother Greg, I believe have stories equally as important to share. Greg is still serving the country, and Lori has set an example for a generation of Hopi and Native American women and little girls everywhere. So I think, so there really was no need to twist my story and make me seem like a glorified hero. I felt like this made my audience see the truth is more valuable than any exaggerated story. Okay, how about when midway through your speech, you repeatedly used the phrase, I remember. That really caught my eye. What response were you wanting to get out of your audience by doing that? Here, I really tried to emphasize my point that my story is mine. The things that happened to me were truly traumatic, and even today I face struggles with my injuries. For me to come back home and see that my story was being told incorrectly really hurt. By repeating, I remember, I felt it left my audience with a takeaway that my story is just one of many examples of why the truth is always worth more than any kind of sensational or exaggerated story. Yeah, I totally agree with you. I'm glad you're setting the record straight. Unfortunately, though, that will conclude this episode of the Reliquary Room podcast. Thank you so much, Ms. Lynch, for sharing your story and thoughts on how the truth is worth more than an exaggerated story. Yes, of course. Thank you so much for having me. This has been so much fun. Listeners, make sure you tune in next week. We have a special guest, Michelle Obama, and we'll be discussing the last speech she gave as the First Lady. Bye, guys!