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IraqLynch brings fame home todayBy Associated Press© St. Petersburg Times published July 22, 2003 ELIZABETH, W.Va. - Foodland can't keep its $5 Jessica Lynch T-shirts in stock. Subway is adding an extra sandwichmaker for the week. And lines are already forming at this town's only gas station. Today's homecoming of the former POW is providing a brief economic boom for Wirt County, which has the dubious distinction of having West Virginia's highest unemployment rate - 15.1 percent. Hundreds of out-of-towners, many of them journalists, have brought cash, along with unprecedented traffic, to this county seat of about 1,000 for Lynch's first public comments since her wounding, capture and rescue in Iraq. Much of the benefit has washed over to neighboring Wood County, which has the hotels closest to the Lynch celebration. Rooms in Parkersburg, about 20 miles away, are booked solid Monday night. Lynch, still recuperating from multiple broken bones and other injuries, and family members will be flown to Elizabeth by helicopter from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Sportman Park, where the former POW is expected to deliver a brief speech at a media-only gathering about 2 p.m. today, has been transformed into a sea of satellite trucks that the press has dubbed "Camp Jessica." After the statement, a motorcade will escort Lynch along the 5-mile drive to her home in Palestine, a town of 300 residents. Both Wirt and Wood counties have seen modest economic gains since March 23, when the tale of Lynch's capture during an ambush of her 507th Maintenance Company caught the nation's attention. "Hotels, gas stations and markets were packed during the first onslaught (last spring), and since this is a more joyous celebration we hope a lot more people visit," said Rick Modesitt, president of the Wood County Commission. Meanwhile, volunteers have worked since April remodeling the Lynch family home to accommodate her injuries. She can walk with the aid of a walker but still has trouble standing, family spokesman Randy Coleman said last week. The effort began with the idea of adding a first floor, handicapped-accessible bedroom and bathroom to the family's two-bedroom home. But volunteers collected so many supplies that they remodeled the entire house. - Information from Cox News Service was added to this report.  © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From the Times wire desk Iraq Nation in brief World in brief
From the AP |
