Jessica Lynch is a former United States solider and the first prisoner of war (POW) to be rescued since the Vietnam War. She marked 10-years since her rescue by talking about her experience on the Today Show.

Jessica Lynch was taken prisoner when she and other soldiers were ambushed in the Iraqi desert Nasiriyah. After her rescue Jessica Lynch was portrayed as a wartime hero. They say she was bravely fighting off the enemy at the time of her capture.

"I know that there was a lot of fabricated, misconstrued stories, but I did what I had to do. I came out and tried to tell the world what really happened," Lynch said on the Today Show.

Lynch was never happy with the over exaggeration of her role in the firefight. She criticized the military for portraying her as an action hero when in actuality she was unable to shoot at her would be captures because her gun jammed.

The reality of her situation was that Jessica Lynch was severely injured when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the Humvee she was in. It took 21 surgeries to help mend Lynch's bones back together.

United States Special Forces rescued Jessica Lynch on April 1, 2003. It has been 10-years to the day since her rescue. Lynch was on the Today Show speaking about her life since her time as a POW.

Jessica Lynch is now 29 and the mother of a 6-year-old girl named Dakota. She is engaged to Dakota's father and they are living in Lynch's hometown Charleston, West Virginia.

Although Lynch is doing well and surrounded by family and friends she admitted to the Today Show that she still has nightmares.

"About every night I have some kind of dream where there's someone chasing me. It's hard. It really is mentally and physically draining. I'm very blessed and happy to be here, and I think that's what counts the most, and if I tell myself that I'm okay, I eventually start thinking, 'you know what I can do this.'"

One of the hardest things Jessica Lynch said she has to deal with is knowing that her best friend, Lori Piestewa did not make it home from Iraq. Piestewa was one of eleven members of Lynch's company to die in the firefight when Lynch was taken hostage.

Lynch told the Today Show, "It's so hard to continue everyday knowing that Lori didn't make it home with me...so I'm just having to deal with the fact that my best friend didn't get to come back and I did."

Jessica Lynch finished her Today Show interview by explaining she is glad she is able to commemorate the 10-year mark. Now she says she can put Iraq in the past.