I had the good fortune and opportunity to come home and to tell the truth; many soldiers, like Pat Tillman… did not have that opportunity. The truth … - Jessica Lynch

The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own heroes — ideals for heroes — and they don't need to be told elaborate lies.

I have repeatedly said, when asked, that if the stories about me helped inspired our troops and rally a nation, then perhaps there was some good. However, I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and try to make me a legend, when the real heroics — of my fellow soldiers that day — were legendary.

The cars ahead skated on a skim of water. The vivid red of countless tail lights, brake lights bobbed in the pitch-black night that stretched endlessly in front of them, the only sign that they weren’t alone in this storm. Sheets of rain fell sideways as it hammered down on the roof, a persistent drumbeat that even the radio couldn’t quite drown out.