Re: an Nasiriya - One Year Later

Date: March 23, 2004

"Native American Times
Lori Piestewa: One year later
Ceremony marks anniversary of ambush that killed Hopi soldier

PIESTEWA PEAK AZ Sam Lewin

Today marks one year since the 507th Maintenance Company was ambushed in the Iraqi city of Nassirya. Spc. Lori Piestewa sustained fatal wounds in the attack.

The Hopi woman was honored today in a sunrise ceremony at Piestewa Peak, the mountain renamed in her memory. Some 500 people attended.

Piestewa, 23, became the first Native American to be killed in fighting, and the sole American servicewoman to die in the conflict. She roomed with Jessica Lynch, 19, the prisoner of war apparently rescued by Special Forces during a raid at an Iraqi hospital. Piestewa’s friends say the armed services was something she was meant to do; she was the commanding officer of the Junior ROTC program in high school and joined the army to have a steady income to support her children.

Her parents now raise her two children, Brandon, 5, and Carla, 3, at their home in Tuba City, Arizona.

Lynch later credited Piestewa with her courage under fire during the ambush.

“It was an honor to have served with her," Lynch said.

Since the death of their daughter, Terry and Priscilla Piestewa have expressed thanks for the support they received not only from the Southwest’s American Indian community, but Oklahoma’s as well. Terry, a Vietnam veteran, said he has received letters from people all over the country who tell him Lori has appeared in their dreams.

Terry and Priscilla were special guests of the Concho-based Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe last summer. At that event, Priscilla cautioned parents not to take their children for granted.

“ Many of us do not take care of our children. We were very fortunate to have Lori in our lives. It was for a rather short time, but we enjoyed having her. She was like a ray of sunshine when we would see her and she would smile at us. I want to remind you parents to tell your children how proud you are of them. Everyday tell them how much they mean to you, because one day the day may come when you cannot tell them,” she said.

Piestewa will be honored at the opening ceremony of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington this fall.

Native American Times © 2003 Oklahoma Indian Times, Inc."

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"Hundreds gather for Piestewa memorial

The Associated Press

PHOENIX - More than 200 people gathered at sunrise Tuesday to remember the life and death of Spc. Lori Piestewa, the first American servicewoman killed in the war with Iraq.

The day marked the one-year anniversary of the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company, in which Piestewa and former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch served.

During Tuesday's ceremony at the peak now named in Piestewa's honor, a letter from another female POW from the 507th was read. Former Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson urged Arizona officials to keep the name Piestewa Peak.

The peak, known for generations as Squaw Peak, was renamed for Piestewa after intense lobbying from the Governor's Office.

Johnson said it was only fitting the peak be named after someone who made the ultimate sacrifice during war.

Piestewa's father, Terry Piestewa, said the peak was a tribute to all fallen soldiers.

"It makes my heart heavy to think of those people who haven't made it home. This peak belongs to all the veterans who didn't make it," said Terry Piestewa, a Vietnam war veteran.

The ceremony began with a flag raising at sunrise and incorporated Hopi, Navajo and Catholic traditions.

Lori Piestewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe, is believed to have been the first American Indian woman killed while fighting for the U.S. military.


© 2004 Tucson Citizen"