some that i made up and some that exist this is for jessica lynch, war memories. i have forgotten myself. who i was, i cannot now know who i have become is a stranger i have forgotten myself there are other things to lose in battle eyes and guts, other sacrifices before life. vilost myself. i am not who i was before this war, i am not she who no longer dares to be my mother is so happy with this worn body returned home. we pretend that i am as whole as i look. but at night when i stair through the dark at the hidden image in the mirror i cannot lie to the stranger i see. i have forgotten everything. except my affection for children, my service to country and my insatiable fear. [applause] >> sizing up the cost of war. >> what is left but the shoes. shoes scuffed and torn, no longer having feet to carry them, shoes empty now. work boots bearing mud from the last field he had plowed with his father. empty now. red sneakers with white stripes brought back fwr america by her oldest son given to her youngest, both of them immediately rung outside kicking the soccer bal

many americans remember when private first class jessica lynch was captured in iraq. recent biography details how she was rapeed by her captors. in a statement today she said she supported the change. >> listen, there is a big difference between being in harm's way, women are ambushed as part of units. they receive mortars and they have i.a.d. attacks. being in direct combat operation day in and day out is different than being in harm's way. >> the military service chiefs have until may 15 to make their case to the defense secretary about which jobs if any should still exclude women, bret? >> bret: jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. thank you. so what do you think about allowing women in combat? let me know on twitter. follow me @brettbaier. controversy is very much in the eye of the beholder. case and point later in the grapevine. up next, does president obama really want to anilate the republican party? jenna shared her recipe with sharon, who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe.

home missing her legs or someone like a shoshana johnson, who was a p.o.w., or someone like a jessica lyncho was shot in the heels of her feet. so i don't know how much more formal recognition you need that women are doing the job today. >> women have to volunteer for combat duty and face the same physical standards that men do. is that an issue or not an issue at all? >> you know, i went through boot camp back in 1987. my former husband attempted to go through boot camp that very same year. he did not graduate from boot camp and was returned home not a marine. i on the other hand did complete boot camp and did rise to the challenge. i do believe that the standards for infantry should be high. they should not be relaxed. but if a woman can meet the physical and mental challenges of serving on the front line then she darn well ought to be able to serve on the front line, be recognized, be promoted, and be paid for it. >> some conservatives are saying that they're concerned because if women were to become captives that they would be possibly exploited sexually. what's your response to that? >

home missing her legs or someone like a shoshana johnson, who was a p.o.w., or someone like a jessica lyncho was shot in the heels of her feet. so i don't know how much more formal recognition you need that women are doing the job today. >> women have to volunteer for combat duty and face the same physical standards that men do. is that an issue or not an issue at all? >> you know, i went through boot camp back in 1987. my former husband attempted to go through boot camp that very same year. he did not graduate from boot camp and was returned home not a marine. i on the other hand did complete boot camp and did rise to the challenge.

for example, they saw jessica lynch be the first p.o.w., woman p.o.w. in iraq.o i think they've gotten used to understanding that women really are playing important roles in the military and that the military needs them. that we as a country need women. because they have good skills. those who compete for combat roles will be physically up to the mettle on that. so i think america's ready for it. >> let me let you listen to major m.j.hagar wounded in combat in afghanistan. she's also one of the plaintiffs in the aclu's lawsuit against the pentagon. let you listen to her and we'll talk about it on the other side. >> everybody wanted to make it a debate about whether or not women should be in combat. when the actual issue was that women are in combat. they're serving in combat. they're engaging the enemy, acting with valor, serving and not being recognized. i don't mean recognized with awards, with the correct job title that will get them promoted. >> i think that's kind of key what you were hitting on there. we have the big announcement next week. how soon before

then a real life person, jessica lynch. remember she was taken prisoner in that hospital?dy to a degree. >> steve: we'll talk about that at the bottom of the hour. i can't believe it. i'm sitting near a smock, looking like i'm ready for a buffet at red lobster. >> brian: twist it around and go fight crime. >> alisyn: your hair looks great, by the way. >> steve: thanks very much. you'll get it in just a minute. >> alisyn: wow. >> brian: you're going to get a boy's hair cut. >> steve: no, she does ladies hair cuts, too. hillary clinton was up on capitol hill yesterday and did you miss it? here is a montage of hillary defending the actions by the department of state. >> i stood next to president obama as the marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at andrews. i put my arms around the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, the sons and daughters. >> we were misled there was supposedly frosts and something sprang out of that, an assault sprang out of that. that was easily ascertained that was not the fact. and the american people could have known that within