BADGES DECORATED WITH U.S. ARMY PRIVATE JESSICA LYNCH IMAGE., 2003-07-21 (photo)

Jessica Lynch's portrait adorns badges on sale in her neighborhood town of Elizabeth, West Virginia July 21, 2003 on the eve of the former Iraq POW's return home. Lynch, the wounded Army private whose ordeal in Iraq was hyped into a media fiction of U.S. heroism, was set for an emotional homecoming on Tuesday in a rural West Virginia community bristling with flags, yellow ribbons and TV news trucks. Lynch became a national hero after media reports quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying she fought fiercely before being captured, firing on Iraqi forces despite sustaining multiple gunshot and stab wounds.In the end, Army investigators concluded that Lynch was injured when her Humvee crashed into another vehicle in the convoy after it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Picture taken July 21. REUTERS/Stefan Zaklin PP03070080 BPS/AA