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Even America's best-known soldier, with her sweet disposition, has her share of detractors.
Four years after becoming a worldwide celebrity, she still can't grasp why someone would take the time and energy to write a mean-spirited letter to her.
All she ever did was survive an ambush in Iraq.
"A lot of people hate me," Lynch said during an interview in Parkersburg. "Trust me. I know.
"In the beginning, people thought I didn't deserve any attention or the book deal. I didn't ask for any of that, anyway. After the book came out, I was hated by a lot."
Lynch was referring to the best-selling "I Am A Soldier Too: The Jessica Lynch Story," written by former New York Times reporter Rick Bragg.
But she brushes off her critics and remains in good spirits, despite what life's handed her.
After all, the gifts and thank-you letters pouring in from strangers outnumber the negative items filling her mailbox.
America surely hasn't forgotten her.
"People still want me to sign pictures, which is surprising," she said. "Four years later and you still want my autograph?"
She obliges them as much as possible. But she doesn't have the time to sift through her ever-growing mountain of mail. When she returned to West Virginia in July 2003, she had more than 30,000 letters waiting for her.
One package she'll never forget opening included a prison inmate's blanket that he shredded into a cross.
"What do you do?" she asked jokingly. "‘Um....thanks.'"
She has several tote bags stuffed with unopened mail, some of it dating back to 2003.
"One day, I want to sit down and go through it."
Admirers still stop her on the street and outside her apartment to chat.
They usually say the same things by expressing support for American troops and thanking her for her inspirational story.
In Parkersburg, she's more at ease and can go about her business. She moved there last August to take college classes.
A sophomore, she initially enrolled in WVU's education program in Morgantown, but later switched her major to journalism. She said she became fascinated with the field after her experiences with the press following her rescue from Iraq.
Lynch transferred to WVU at Parkersburg to be near her Wirt County family after becoming pregnant, but she changed her major to education again because the Parkersburg campus doesn't offer journalism.
Wood County residents are accustomed to seeing Lynch at the Grand Central Mall and restaurants.
She could be easily mistaken for any other college-aged student. Last Wednesday, during the interview at the Blennerhassett Hotel, she sported a gray Old Navy hoodie, jeans and Nike sneakers.
"That's the way I like it," she said. "It's nice to go shopping in peace and eat without worrying about people coming up to you with your mouth full."
Lynch said she seldom misses the spotlight because now she can be "the country girl who doesn't have to worry about that stuff."
During her first weeks of school in Morgantown, she deliberately enrolled in larger classes and hid in the back.
Her limp gives away her identity, as she still suffers from nerve damage in her right foot. She also had two spinal fractures and a shattered right arm when her Humvee crashed during a firefight in the Iraqi town of Nasiriyah on March 23, 2003.
Lynch's 507th Army Maintenance Company convoy took a wrong turn and was attacked by Iraqi forces. Eleven American soldiers were killed and six, including Lynch, were captured.
Lynch, who still wears a brace under her clothing, says she has no feeling in her foot and accepts that it may never improve.
"After four years, it's gotten to the doubtful point," she said. "But I put my brace on and go about my day."
She has had to make some changes.
"No more wearing big clunky shoes or high heels, but I'm happy with tennis shoes," she said. "I'm more comfortable in them. I can either be thankful I have my foot and wear tennis shoes the rest of my life, or I could be dead like the rest of my fellow soldiers."
Lynch is only 23 but expresses mock concern about aging.
"I want to stay young forever," she said.
And she can't leave home in her Toyota Tacoma pickup without applying the appropriate makeup.
Without makeup, she looks like a 12-year-old, she said. She can act that age, too, she added.
She recently got a new chic hairstyle, but she's not entirely pleased because she prefers her hair longer.
Her favorite place is the mall.
"I guess all girls like to shop," she said.
Her daughter, Dakota Ann, was born Jan. 19. She has blue eyes and reddish hair, resembling the father, Lynch's live-in boyfriend, Wes Robinson. Lynch gave birth through a caesarean section.
The child's middle name honors Lynch's fallen friend, Lori Ann Piestewa, who was in her convoy and was the first woman killed in the Iraq War.
After Lynch chose Dakota as a first name, she realized it meant "friendship" in the Sioux language.
"It's very natural for me," Lynch said about her first two months as a mother. "Most new moms are scared and don't know what to do.
"But I'm up at 3 a.m. because that's when she thinks she can play."
Lynch said she wants to have a boy some day.
For now, she's on hiatus from her studies as she adjusts to parenting. She hopes to return to school this summer and still aspires to become a teacher. She's also pondering a return to Morgantown for a master's degree in journalism.
Many students who enter college right out of high school would have graduated by Lynch's age. Of course, she chose to enter the military instead, and she doesn't regret that.
At times, she misses the camaraderie of her fellow soldiers and stays in contact with several friends she made along the way.
This week she's heading to Arizona to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the attack on her convoy. She'll also visit Piestewa's family.
Lynch, who has a Purple Heart and Bronze Star, has stated repeatedly that Piestewa was the true hero of the ambush.
Lynch, who blacked out in the attack and was rescued from an Iraqi hospital a week later, says she still can't remember any details of the ambush.
"I'm kind of glad," she said. "But sometimes, I want to remember so I can know what really happened. But maybe it's better I don't."
Months after returning from Iraq, Lynch started disputing the highly publicized stories regarding her actions during the ambush.
The Pentagon had presented a heroic story claiming Lynch fought the Iraqi forces until being wounded and captured.
Lynch said she didn't even fire her weapon. It jammed.
"For them to use it as a Rambo story -- it wasn't the truth," she said. "I wanted people to know the real story, not what the government wanted people to believe. I didn't want to take credit for anything I didn't do."
Lynch also took issue with an NBC made-for-TV movie, "Saving Jessica Lynch," that aired just seven months after her rescue.
The inaccuracies of the film were so absurd she's never sat through the entire movie.
"They had us eating soup and drinking coffee in the middle of the desert," Lynch said about a scene in the movie. "That would've been great. But we really didn't have coffee breaks. It wasn't all fun and games."
The actress portraying her was Laura Regan, a Canadian. Lynch said if another movie were made about her, she would want someone more "countrified" to play her.
She joked how her sister, Brandi, didn't have a name in the movie. They called her "sister" throughout.
On the ongoing, unpopular war in Iraq, Lynch declined to comment.
"I'll keep my opinions to myself," she said. "I did it in one interview, and it was a mistake.
"I still support the troops and hope they come home safe."
Upon returning to the United States after her rescue, Lynch spent time at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She didn't notice any problems during her stay but expressed frustration about the poor conditions exposed recently by investigative reporters.
"Everyone thinks that once soldiers come here, they're safe and everything's back to the way it was," Lynch said. "No. They still need the best care possible. The living conditions I've seen on TV, that's not the conditions they should be in. They shouldn't have to worry about mold and mildew."
Lynch believes she's finally slipping back into normalcy here in West Virginia and thinks she'll stay here for the rest of her life.
She hopes people don't remember her for any falsehoods.
"It would be OK if they don't know who I am or remember my name," Lynch said. "I just want them to know that wasn't me out there being a hero."
