Army decorates Jessica Lynch’s rescuers

? The Army unit that helped rescue prisoner of war Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital during a nighttime raid has been given an award for valor.

The 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, based in Savannah, Ga., received the Valorous Unit Award during a ceremony Friday. It is the Army’s third-highest unit citation.

A convoy from Lynch’s company took a wrong turn and was attacked in Nasiriyah, Iraq, in March 2003. Eleven U.S. soldiers were killed and six captured, including Lynch. She suffered spinal fractures, nerve damage and a shattered right arm, right foot and left leg when her Humvee crashed.

The Rangers helped rescue her and dug up the bodies of eight soldiers who had been killed in fighting with her unit, the 507th Maintenance Company.

Lynch started classes in August at West Virginia University, one of several universities that offered her a scholarship so she could achieve her dream of becoming a kindergarten teacher.