Emotional return for Lynch

Private Lynch has been awarded three medals, including the Purple Heart

The American soldier Jessica Lynch, who was rescued by US special forces after being taken prisoner in Iraq, has been speaking in public for the first time.

During a ceremony welcoming her back to her home town of Palestine, West Virginia she thanked the soldiers who saved her and paid tribute to the medics who aided her recovery.

Significantly she also thanked a number of Iraqi citizens who she encountered in the hospital that she was held in, saying they had also helped to save her life.

Smiling and looking emotional, Private Lynch told the thronging press who have descended on the small town to mark her homecoming that it was "great to be home".

I'm proud to be a soldier in the army, I'm a soldier still. Thank you for this welcome Jessica Lynch

"I want to express my thanks to all those who hoped and prayed for my return," Private Lynch said.

"I'm proud to be a soldier in the army," she added. "I'm a soldier still. Thank you for this welcome."

But even amid the rejoicing at her safe return, Private Lynch was keen to pay tribute to her 11 colleagues from the 507th Maintenance Company who did not come out alive.

Lost friends

She paid special tribute to Lori Piestewa, a colleague from the 507th who was killed in the ambush.

Describing Piestewa, who was 23 at the time of her death, as her best friend she said: "She fought beside me, and it was an honour to have served with her."

As a child I thought I was setting an example for Jessica to follow, but as I stand by her today I see her as a role model for myself Greg Lynch, Jessica's brother

The 20-year-old returned to the rural faming community by military helicopter after three months in a US army medical hospital.

Looking pale and still in a wheelchair Private Lynch was introduced by her brother Greg, also a soldier in the US army.

Speaking of his pride in his sister he said: "As a child I thought I was setting an example for Jessica to follow, but as I stand by her today I see her as a role model for myself."

Crowds of well wishers

The BBC's Nick Bryant in Palestine said thousands of well-wishers had descended on the small town to welcome Private Lynch home.

She was captured along with six other soldiers when her convoy was ambushed by Iraqi troops near the city of Nasiriya in March.

Controversial footage of her subsequent rescue turned Private Lynch into a national hero and the incident became a vital morale boost for the American people and US troops in the midst of the Iraq conflict.

Her homecoming is an emotional affair for the small town

She is said to remember little about her capture, yet despite her patchy memories every major news outlet in the US is vying for her exclusive story.

Initial reports that she had been shot and stabbed as she fought fiercely against her attackers later turned out to be untrue.

An investigation by the BBC's Correspondent programme said the story of the rescue was "one of the most stunning pieces of news management ever conceived".

But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said any claims that the facts of Private Lynch's rescue were misrepresented by the US military were "void of all facts and absolutely ridiculous".

BBC correspondent Emma Simpson - who is also in Palestine - says local residents care little that her story has had to be rewritten and have decked out the town with yellow ribbons and American flags.

On Monday, military chiefs awarded Private Lynch the Bronze Star for meritorious combat service, a Prisoner of War medal and the Purple Heart medal which is usually awarded to those wounded in combat.