Family reaches base where ex-POW is recovering
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Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch is put into an ambulance early Thursday at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
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SPECIAL REPORT
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The U.S. military helps POWs released from captivity, all of whom have different needs. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports.
Col. David Rubenstein said rescued POW Pfc. Jessica Lynch is in 'good spirits' and is undergoing several surgeries.
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LANDSTUHL, Germany (CNN) -- The parents of U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch landed in a private jet at Ramstein Air Base on Sunday morning to see their daughter, a former prisoner of war who is being treated for wounds she suffered in Iraq.
Greg and Dee Lynch were greeted by a delegation of U.S. officials and David Rubenstein, head of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, at 7:10 a.m. [12:10 a.m. EST]. The parents and Lynch's two siblings, Greg Jr. and Brandi, were driven to their quarters on the base. They are expected to stay several days.
Lynch was rescued Wednesday in the southern Iraqi town of Nasiriya. The 19-year-old had been listed as missing in action until U.S. forces were alerted to her presence at a hospital there.
Lynch and seven other members of the 507th Maintenance Company, along with several other soldiers, were listed as missing after their convoy made a wrong turn near Nasiriya and drove into an ambush March 23.
Acting on information that government sources said was obtained by the CIA from more than one Iraqi source, U.S. Special Forces led a team of Marines, Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and Air Force pilots and controllers to rescue the Army private. (Full story)
Nine bodies were also recovered in the raid, and the Pentagon confirmed Saturday that they were all U.S. soldiers. (Full story)
Lynch suffered gunshot wounds, broken bones and a damaged disc in her back, doctors told her family. She was being monitored Friday for a fever, elevated heart rate and infection, but doctors said she improved quickly.
Rubenstein said he could not say whether Lynch suffered her injuries during the ambush or while she was in Iraqi custody.
He said she was being debriefed by repatriation teams that would provide medical and psychological care as long as she needs it.
-- CNN correspondent Matthew Chance contributed to this report
