But I don't think of her as a hero.

From the fictitious accounts of her capture, to her heavily hyped rescue, to the manufactured extravaganza surrounding her homecoming, everything's been orchestrated to anoint her as something she's not.

Jessica Lynch is but one soldier made larger then life for purposes beyond her control.

Exploited by the media, manipulated by the government, Jessica Lynch had the look of a deer caught in the headlights as she faced the world via satellite trucks and camera lenses.

Having done nothing heroic beyond surviving, Jessica Lynch is but one soldier around which a sentimental story was concocted.

And even after that story was shown to be false, the luster of the lie stayed with her because it made good TV, sold newspapers and gave the government a piece of propaganda to play with.

Jessica Lynch is but one soldier from a small town, unaware that the world is too full of big city slickers with news credentials, and government offices who have their own reasons to create heroes.

I'm happy for Jessica Lynch and her family.

I'll be even happier for them when they're no longer targets of manipulation, exploitation and propaganda.

Want to share your thoughts with Ken Schram? You can e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com