May 25, 2018 Hello ,
Can't believe it's already Memorial Day Weekend!
To mark the holiday and honor our military men and women who've
died in combat, let's revisit the story of Spc. Lori Ann Piestewa. In 2003, Piestewa was the first American woman to die in Iraq, and the first-ever Native American woman to die in combat on foreign soil.
You may remember the famous rescue of Jessica Lynch in the early days of the Iraq war. PFC Piestewa, age 23, and a single mother of two young children, was injured in the same attack as Jessica, but Lori died in captivity.
Spc. Piestewa, was of Mexican-American and Hopi Indian descent. In the native language "Hopi" means "Peaceful People."
When the U.S. Cavalry occupied their ancestral lands, the Hopi with stayed true, offering nonviolent resistance.
Lori believed in peace, but the army offered a good job when she had few options. It was a chance to build a better life for her children.
Jessica and Lori had become friends in basic training. They grew even closer when they were assigned to the 507th Maintenance Company as roommates at
Fort Bliss. Below: Lynch, Piestowa's son, Piestowa, Fort Bliss, Texas.When the 507th got orders to the Middle East, Lori was not on the list to go because of an injury. Jessica's job as a quartermaster supply clerk was not a combat position, but she was nervous about heading to a war
zone.
Three days into the war, disaster struck.
A U.S. Army investigation blamed the ambush of the 507th on navigational and human error, lack of rest and communication problems. Eleven soldiers died and nine were injured.
The unit had been on its way to Baghdad, the tail end of a
600-vehicle convoy. It’s heavier, slower vehicles bogged down in the sand, fell behind and got lost. After wandering through the desert for hours, the support group of clerks, repairmen and cooks took a wrong turn and stumbled into the city of Nasiriyah.
There paramilitary forces loyal to Saddam Hussein surrounded and attacked them. Piestowa was injured when the humvee she was
driving crashed during the assault. She died a short time later, lying in a hospital bed next to Lynch, the roommate she had come to Iraq to protect. Lori's father was a Vietnam veteran and her grandfather served in WWII.
A mountain peak near Phoenix, AZ, which had been called Squaw Peak
has been renamed Piestewa Peak to honor Lori's bravery and sacrifice. Plans are underway to install a memorial at the foot of a trail that runs to the top of Piestewa Peak.
Rolling Stone published a terrific in-depth article, telling the story of PFC Lori Piestewa and what happened during the attack on the 507th. Read it here... Until next week... Have you read a great book? Tell me about it. Have a burning question? Let me know. If you know someone who might enjoy
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