During the night of April 1 to April 2, a US Commando liberated an American woman soldier from captivity in a lighting raid on a hospital. Jessica Lynch, 19 years old, had been taken prisoner ten days before. She was held in the Iraqi Saddam hospital in Nassiriya for multiple fractures in her legs and arms as well as gunshots. Her parents in Palestine, West Virginia, were informed straight away. She is now in stable condition in an American field hospital and she will soon be flown to a better US hospital in Germany. Eleven bodies were found in the hospital compound but it is not clear if they are from American soldiers but some probably were. Minutes before the rescue operation, a decoy attack near a bridge was launched to distract the Iraqi. It became known afterwards that an Iraqi lawyer, who risked his life to help her after seeing her slapped in the face by a guard, told the US Marines of Jessica Lynch's presence in the hospital. She had not eaten for a few days and the Iraqi doctors were going to amputate her. She is now undergoing surgery at an US military hospital in Germany and her leg should be saved. She had not been shot or stabbed as thought initially. Nine sets of remains found buried outside the hospital are from US soldiers. They have been sent to a mortuary in the USA. Soon after being liberated Jessica became an idol in the USA. She is coming from a poor family from the small town of Palestine, West Virginia, where unemployment and poverty are high. It fact it is a region that is exactly the opposite of what Hollywood presents as being America. For Hollywood, American people are affluent, some very rich but even the poor are well-off, they own their house, they drive a car, they have all the commodities, they are educated, they are in good health. The truth is that there are many, many towns and regions like Palestine, West Virginia where also the white, and not only the black, are dirt poor. For them, the army is a way out, and sometime the only escape, of their poor life. Jessica is one of them and she now is an American hero. In any case, for a few days, the Bush's war, Rumsfeld's war or Tommy Franks' war became known as "Jessica's war".

On May 15, 2003, the Guardian reported that the "saving" by the US Special Forces of Jessica Lynch from her Iraqi captors that made her an icon of the war in Iraq, an all-American heroine, was in fact a Hollywood-type operation orchestrated by the American military media management team and this made their British counter-part furious. Private Jessica lynch, a 19-year-old from West Virginia had been taken prisoner 8 days before while 9 other US soldiers were killed. Informing the media, the Americans in Qatar said that Jessica had stab and bullet wounds and that she had been slapped about on her hospital bed and interrogated, and that she was saved by a courageous Iraqi lawyer, Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief, who risked his life to inform the Americans of her presence in the hospital. We were told that Army Rangers and Navy Seals stormed the Nassiriya hospital, came under fire but despite this, they "saved" Jessica by carrying her to a waiting helicopter. Al-Rehaief was granted asylum in the USA and is now writing a book for which he received an advance payment of $500,000. Jessica Lynch's status as a national hero is stronger than ever but she has no recollection of what happened but researchers have been on call to fill the gaps. According to the doctors of the Nassiriya hospital she was given the best treatment available at the time in Iraq, received blood transfusion as well as the help of a nurse full time. According to the hospital she had a broken arm, a broken thigh and a dislocated ankle but no stab or bullet wound. In addition the Iraqi soldiers guarding the hospital fled the day before Jessica was rescued. All the same the American soldiers after being told that they were no soldiers went on firing their guns, throwing grenades and breaking doors while the "show" was filmed. A Iraqi doctor, al-Houssona, present on the scene said that, two days before, they had tried to send Jessica back to the Americans but that the ambulance she was on was fired at when they approached the American checkpoint. A military cameraman filmed the whole of the rescue operation but the film was heavily edited and the military authorities refused to release the whole film as they are more interested by the propaganda aspect of it that by the real truth behind it. They also refused to talk about the resistance the American soldiers faced or about the detail of Jessica's injuries. Of course it is difficult to decide where the truth lies, but the Iraqi version seems more believable that the "nice story for American consumption", the only kind of information the American public likes and understands.

Private Jessica Lynch, the US soldier who was wounded and then liberated from an Iraqi hospital is now back home in her hometown, Palestine, West Virginia. The circumstances of how she was taken out of the hospital are still disputed with the army saying that it was the result of a commando action and the Iraqi saying that some Iraqi doctors informed the soldiers who walked in the hospital where she was treated. In a brief speech she thanked "Iraqi citizens" for saving her life. Since she came back to hero welcome to the US she was treated in a hospital in Washington DC. She can stand up but still uses a wheelchair most of the time. She received a Purple Heart medal.

On December 3, 2003, a US Marine captain, Thomas A. Douglas, was awarded the Bronze Star for his participation in the rescue of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch.

On December 30, 2003, pictures taken by the Iraqi television of the badly injured Jessica Lynch and Lori Piestewa (who died shortly afterwards) were shown on NBC Nightly News. The footage shows the two female soldiers at the Iraqi hospital where they were taken on March 23. The Iraq television never aired these pictures.