[lbo-talk] SFC: The girl not in the movie

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Sat Nov 8 21:58:16 PST 2003


[I can't help but suspecting the real problem is that she wasn't conventionally pretty -- that if Shoshona looked like a younger version of Condi and Jessica Lynch was overweight, it'd be Shoshona's movie.]

URL: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7213959.htm

Sat, Nov. 08, 2003

Ex-POWs' treatment seems unfair to many

By William Douglas

Knight Ridder

WASHINGTON - Sunday, NBC will air its made-for-TV movie celebrating

Pfc. Jessica Lynch, whose capture and dramatic rescue is the feel-good

story of America's war with Iraq.

But some African-Americans don't feel so good about Lynch's story.

Instead, they ask: What about Shoshana Johnson?

Johnson, an Army specialist, belonged to the same 507th Maintenance

Company as Lynch. Unlike Lynch, Johnson fought to stave off their

Iraqi captors. Like Lynch, she sustained serious injuries.

But only Lynch got the headlines, the TV movie, the prime-time

television interviews and a biography penned by a Pulitzer

Prize-winning writer. Lynch, in short, got the full American celebrity

treatment, while Johnson largely got ignored. Many African-Americans

think that's simply because she didn't have the right ``face.''

African-American suspicions of a racial double standard were

reinforced last month when it was revealed that Johnson, who was shot

in both ankles, will get only 30 percent of her monthly pay in

disability benefits. Lynch, who had a head injury and broken bones in

her right arm, right leg, thighs and ankle, will get 80 percent

disability pay. Lynch's new book, ``I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica

Lynch Story,'' says she also was raped by her Iraqi captors.

``Shoshana is getting the shaft, and people are outraged about it,''

said Mary Mason, a Philadelphia talk-radio host whose show was

bombarded with callers complaining about the disparity in treatment.

``It's ridiculous, and complete racism.''

Johnson and her family in El Paso, Texas, say they have no proof that

the issue is rooted in racism, but they have engaged the Rev. Jesse

Jackson to press the Army to increase her disability benefits. An Army

statement said, ``Race is not an issue,'' and that the women's

disability benefits are based on the extent of their injuries and how

they will affect them in the future.

Lynch, through an intermediary, stressed that she and Johnson are good

friends and expressed hope that ``Shoshana gets 100 percent'' of what

she deserves.

Others think race hovers around the edges of this story. They see

Johnson's plight as another chapter in the long struggle of

African-Americans trying to get their due from white society.

``There before you is the American dilemma: We are unfair in treatment

and view when it comes to people of color,'' said William Smith, a

Vietnam War veteran and media adviser for the National Association for

Black Veterans.

Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at

Syracuse University, said he doubted that race was the reason that

Lynch became a media celebrity. But, he added, with her good looks and

compelling story, Lynch looked like a figure from central casting at a

time when the Pentagon desperately needed one.

Just weeks into the battle, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Gen.

Tommy Franks were enduring heavy criticism over whether their battle

plan provided enough ground forces to get the job done. The rescue of

Lynch on April 2, videotaped by the U.S. forces who raided the

hospital where she was being held, helped stem the criticism.

``It was clear that she was going to become the icon, the star of the

miniseries that was the war with Iraq. I think everybody was looking

for a symbol of the war with a happy ending,'' Thompson said.

``Jessica Lynch fits the profile of the type of casting American

television has done for years.''

And the early version of Lynch's story was good -- too good. The

Washington Post's initial front-page report said Lynch had suffered

knife and bullet wounds while ferociously fighting off her attackers.

Pentagon officials later said Lynch was hurt when her Humvee crashed

after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Lynch, in an ABC

interview to air Tuesday, says her weapon jammed and she never fired a

shot. She also criticizes the military for hyping her story.

So do national civil rights leaders.

``There appears to be unequal treatment between Johnson and Lynch'' on

the benefits issue, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said.

Army officials say both women's disability benefits are based on the

extent of their injuries and how they will affect their employment and

lifestyle.

Lynch and Johnson get different benefits because a military Physical

Evaluation Board placed them in different categories, the Army said.

Lynch was put on a temporary disability list, meaning she can stay in

the Army for up to five years and her condition can be re-evaluated

periodically. If her condition doesn't improve, she could be medically

discharged. Her disability payments could be lowered upon review, Army

officials say.

Though Johnson is awaiting a final decision, her injuries were judged

to be stable but permanent, and the board recommended that she be

discharged from the Army. Johnson plans to appeal the board's

recommendation next week.

Donna Brazile said she couldn't help seeing the Johnson-Lynch

disparities as a black-white issue. The African-American political

strategist, who managed Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000, said

she wasn't going to watch the Lynch TV movie.

___________________________________________________________________

© 2003 Mercury News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.bayarea.com



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