Many of us often read news stories of heroism and bravery approvingly; we are supposed to admire, be inspired by, or be in awe of the heroic acts of others. But who decides what it takes to be a hero? Our knowledge of heroic acts is created through our use of mediated texts. The media helps to construct, as well as deconstruct, our ideas about what it means to be heroic. These constructions are represented through language-- certain words and phrases are meant to create a heroic ideal as we read. This study attempts to capture this process by looking at the case of Jessica Lynch and the mediated discourse created by her capture and subsequent "rescue" by the U.S. armed forces. Given Jessica Lynch's particular circumstances, how was language used to position her as a woman, as a soldier, and finally, as a hero? In order to see how each of these identities is represented through language I do a rhetorical analysis of feature articles in two major U.S. news magazines (Time and Newsweek.) Further, in the aftermath of the media frenzy over Jessica Lynch, it became clear that the story had been exaggerated; in light of these exaggerations I discuss the implications of this type of heroic rhetoric in the press.