Private Lynch Signs $1m Deal

Jessica Lynch, the US army clerk whose rescue by special forces produced America's most patriotic moment of the Iraq war, has signed a $1m (£636,00) book deal.

The story of Ms Lynch's capture near Nassiriya, after her company took a wrong turn and crashed, and her rescue from an Iraqi hospital bed captivated Americans, who adopted the diminutive private as a heroine.

Its appeal has not faded despite compelling evidence that the Pentagon concocted large parts of the story.

Ms Lynch, 20, who joined the army so it would pay for her studies as a kindergarten teacher, returned home a heroine in July, after a lengthy recovery. Hundreds of Americans have stood outside the family home in Palestine, West Virginia, waiting for a glimpse of her. Her parents were besieged with offers of publishing and television deals.

In the end, they chose writer Rick Bragg for the authorised biography, which will be called I am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story.

Bragg, who resigned from the New York Times after admitting that an intern had done the reporting for his most evocative pieces, has already started work on the project. But the announcement was delayed until Ms Lynch received her medical discharge from the army last month.

It was unclear yesterday how the pair would tell the story. Ms Lynch said repeatedly that she has no recollection of the episode - and army doctors said it was unlikely her memory would recover.