PARKERSBURG - A rescued prisoner of war from Wood County said she understands the plight of an American soldier being held by the Taliban in Afghanistan and what might be in his mind.
Jessica Lynch said it's the uncertainty of the situation that's the hardest to bear.
"It's so hard," the Wirt County native said.
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JESSICA LYNCH
Lynch, who was a private first class in the U.S. Army, was captured in Iraq during the Iraqi War in March 2003 when her convoy was attacked.
Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl of Idaho has been missing in Afghanistan since the end of June and was identified this week as the soldier in a Taliban video.
"I kind of know what he's going through," Lynch said.
Lynch, who was in a hospital in Iraq, said she didn't know if she was going to live or die, and that was the constant fear.
"The thought was am I going to make it home?" she said. "Am I going to see my family again?"
The uncertainty was compounded by the sound of planes flying overhead and the fear the building where she lay would be hit by a bomb, Lynch said.
"You just never knew if that was going to be your last moment," she said.
Lynch, then 19 and a supply clerk with the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas, was captured in Nasiriyah after her convoy made a wrong turn and was attacked by enemy forces. She was severely injured in a crash while 11 members of her company were killed.
She was initially listed as missing in action; however, information was received that she was in a hospital. She was taken from the hospital by U.S. commandos, making Lynch the first American POW liberated since World War II.
As for Bergdahl, the Associated Press reported two U.S. officials said he "just walked off" the base with three Afghans after his duty shift ended. Then on July 6, the Taliban claimed "a drunken American soldier had come out of his garrison" and was captured by mujahedeen.
His family learned of his capture around July 1 and have since asked for privacy.
Lynch said she plans to have a statement sent to Bergdahl's family by next week.
Meanwhile, life is starting to settle down after the frenzy upon her capture and return, Lynch said. She is studying to be a teacher and is spending the summer break with her daughter, Dakota Ann, 18 months.