Private Jessica Lynch has everything she needs to be a national hero. She has an all-American upbringing, a sparkling smile and a lead role in the most publicized episode of the Iraqi war. And now she has a Bronze Star and a $1 million book deal.

Yes, she has everything that a hero needs — except the heroics.

We first heard of Lynch as a Rambo-esque figure. Her convoy was ambushed and she fired her weapon dry, succumbing only to a hail of Iraqi bullets. The Pentagon has now backed away from that story. According to the Washington Post, who was one of the first to report the initial story, Lynch never fired her weapon — it was jammed. And her severe injuries were not from gunfire, but were sustained when her Humvee crashed into an overturned trailer.

This is not to say that she isn’t brave or deserving of some honor. But to bestow her such celebrity and prestige cheapens the actions of others on that same podium. The Bronze Star’s inscription reads, “HEROIC OR MERITORIOUS ACHIEVEMENT.” This appropriately describes the actions of Sergeant Simon A.J. Kiser, who on March 26, 2003, according to his citation “continued to fearlessly place himself on the incoming side of fire, between the enemy and civilians” until the civilians escaped the firefight.

Lynch, in contrast, seems to have earned one of the Army’s highest awards by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Her being offered a $1 million book deal is just as galling — but not as surprising. Her story, churned out by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author in time for the holidays will certainly be profitable for her publisher. She wouldn’t be the first soldier to get a book deal: Audie Murphy wrote a best-seller in the 1950s and even starred in the movie remake.

But Murphy is in a class of his own, having served in nine military campaigns and winning every award the military could offer him. Lynch does not stand out from the other commendable soldiers who were wounded or died in her unit. She is more noteworthy only because of a misreported story.

Certainly, hers and her fellow soldiers’ real stories should be told. But it doesn’t have to be with this kind of crass commercialism. The heroism of American soldiers in Mogadishu was immortalized in “Black Hawk Down” without any six-figure advances. Her cashing in has already offended at least one family of a soldier who died in the ambush.

Perhaps we shouldn’t blame her for taking the windfall that has come her way—there are undoubtedly less deserving people who have fallen into money. But we should be careful to not forget a time when American soldiers became famous for battlefield heroics, not just because of a pretty smile and a lucrative book deal.

Editorial Board:Nicole Paseka, Megan Hinds, Amy Schierbrock, Alicia Ebaugh, Dan Nguyen