FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Lori Piestewa ~ April 22, 2013

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[Kathy in Alaska]

 

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~ Hall of Heroes ~
Lori Piestewa

Info from here.

           

SPC Lori Ann Piestewa (December 14, 1979 – March 23, 2003) was a U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps soldier killed during the same Iraqi Army attack in which fellow soldiers Shoshana Johnson and Jessica Lynch sustained injuries. A member of the Hopi tribe, Piestewa was the first woman in the U.S. armed forces killed in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and is the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving with the U.S. military in world history.

Piestewa was born in Tuba City, Arizona, to Terry Piestewa and Priscilla "Percy" Baca. Her father is a full-blooded Hopi Native American, and her mother is a Mexican-American.  The couple first met in 1964, and married in November 1968.

The Piestewa family had a long military tradition; her paternal grandfather served in the U.S. Army in the European Theatre of World War II, and her father Terry Piestewa was drafted in the U.S. Army in September 1965, and served one tour of duty in the Vietnam War before he returned home in March 1967.

The Piestewa family resided in a trailer park in Tuba City, a town located on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Coconino County.[9] As a child, she was given the Hopi name Köcha-Hon-Mana (also spelled Qotsa-hon-mana, meaning White Bear Girl).  Her surname, Piestewa, is derived from a Hopi language root meaning "water pooled on the desert by a hard rain"; thus, Piestewa translates loosely as "the people who live by the water."

Piestewa was a member of the army's 507th Army Maintenance Company, a support unit of clerks, cooks, and repair personnel. Her company was traveling in a convoy through the desert and was meant to bypass Nasiriyah, in southern Iraq, during the opening days of the war; but the convoy became lost and ran into an ambush in Nasiriyah on March 23, 2003.

As Piestewa came under what an Army investigation described as "a torrent of fire," she drove at a high speed, successfully evading the enemy fire until an RPG hit the front-left wheel-well of her Humvee. The force of the explosion sent her vehicle into the rear of a disabled tractor-trailer. Three other soldiers in the Humvee died in the crash. Lynch attempted to fire her M16, but it jammed. Piestewa, Johnson and Lynch all survived but were wounded. They were taken prisoner along with four others, with Piestewa dying soon after of her wounds. A video of some of the American prisoners of war, including Piestewa (filmed shortly before she died in an Iraqi hospital), was later shown around the world on Al Jazeera television. According to Jessica Lynch's book—I'm a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story—Piestewa was wounded in the head, and it was impossible to perform delicate neurosurgery in an Iraqi civilian hospital in wartime conditions (such as intermittent electric power). In a U.S. military hospital with reliable power and neurosurgeons available around the clock, she might have survived.

The families of soldiers in the 507th heard almost right away of the ambush and fatalities in the unit. The Piestewa family saw people in Lori's unit being interviewed by Iraqi TV, and for more than a week families of the two women waited for news. All around Tuba City signs were hung out telling people: "Put your porch light on, show Lori the way home." They used white stone to spell her name on a 200-ft mesa just outside the town

 

Piestewa was awarded the Purple Heart and Prisoner of War Medal. The army posthumously promoted her from Private First Class to Specialist.

Jessica Lynch has repeatedly said that Piestewa is the true hero of the ambush and named her daughter Dakota Ann in honor of her fallen comrade. In addition, many entities have honored her memory with memorials. Arizona's state government renamed Squaw Peak in the Phoenix Mountains near Phoenix as Piestewa Peak and this was codified by the US Board on Geographic Names on April 10, 2008; the freeway that passes near this mountain was also re-named in her honor. In addition, Senator Tom Daschle honored her, as did Indian Nations across America. Since her death, the Grand Canyon Games organizers have held an annual Lori Piestewa National Native American Games, which brings participants from across the country. A plaque bearing her name is also located at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and Fort Bliss, Texas. She has also been memorialized with a plaque and ceremony at Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial in La Jolla, California.

Her death led to a rare joint prayer gathering between members of the Hopi and Navajo tribes, which have had a centuries-old rivalry.

In May 2005, Lori's parents and children had a brand-new home built by Ty Pennington and his crew on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition accompanied by Jessica Lynch. They also built a new veterans' center on the Navajo reservation.

Thanks, Beachn4Fun, for the reminder about this hero!

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission! 

[luvie]

Gooood Monday morning, Early Birds!
I'm still off work because of....
~~~~~shudder~~~~~
Shingles!
Can't go back till the rash goes away!
I can't wear dress clothes with the pain! Ugh!
All the night owls think it's funny
...I can't stay up late right now! LOL!
Pain meds make me sleepy!
Hope all of you have a great day and week!
((((hugs))))

[beachn4fun]

Good morning Pro ((HUGS))

Glad you are having nice weather. We’re in for a mix ~ some sunny and chilly days, a bit of rain and a tad warmer ~ all week and into the weekend. Had to turn heat back on last night. It’s like “geez, where’s spring?”

You know, it is so sad that that young man, with so much to look forward to in life, did something he can never change and will spend the rest of his life behind bars. He won’t be safe if they let him out. But, the good news (sorry Lord) is that he suffered some before he was caught. And now the country that he hates will fix him up.

Hon, there is never enough coffee on a Monday morning. LOL

Hope your Monday is marvelicious!

[beachn4fun]

Good morning Luvy (((HUGS)) very lightly)

Sweetie, I know what you’re going through. Mr. Beachy had it not long ago. Good they gave you some pain meds. Are you going to get the vaccine?

[E.G.C.]

((HUGS))Good morning, Ladies. Happy birthday to your grandson, Beach. How’s it going for you this morning?

[luvie]

Thanks, Beachy. I can’t get the vaccine till I’m completely healed, but Mr. LUV got his when he went to pick up my anti-viral meds...which kill the virus causing this upset. My torso looks burned from this rash. Anything that touches me hurts. I look forward to being over it and (believe it or not!) back to work! LOL!

I’m also taking a generic lortab for the pain. Which sort of helps, and have calamine, etc to put on it for the discomfort.

Enough of my whining...did you and Mr. Beachy have a good weekend? :)

[beachn4fun]

Good morning EG ((HUGS))

Thanks for the birthday wishes.

Have a good weekend?

[beachn4fun]

Luvy, you are entitled to whine...that crap hurts. Mr. Beachy had a devil of a time until he found out what it was (thanks to my mom), and then getting meds. Dumb ER doctor didn’t have a clue!

It was a good weekend but busy...looking forward to this weekend that has no major plans! I’m hoping to hide out.

How about you? Did you manage to enjoy yours even though?

[beachn4fun]

Guess you are off doing some planting or something, so if you don’t mind, I’ll take it! hehe

[beachn4fun]

Guess you are off doing some planting or something, so if you don’t mind, I’ll take it! hehe

[beachn4fun]

Guess you are off doing some planting or something, so if you don’t mind, I’ll take it! hehe

[Arrowhead1952]

Good morning beachy and (((HUGS))).

[Arrowhead1952]

Good morning LUV and (((HUGS))). Sorry to hear you have shingles.

[Arrowhead1952]

Bo, just finished my walk in the cool air. WOHOO fer ya.

[E.G.C.]

Great weekend. Took Bo out to the lake. Had a great time out there. Getting ready to take him over to Connie’s for his monthly round of flea spray.

[luvie]

It was an ok weekend, I spent a lot of it dozing because the meds made me sleepy, but that’s probably a good thing.

My doctor, thankfully, listened to my tale of woe and pain (I thought it was a kidney infection from where the pain was emanating) and knew right away what was coming. I was sure hoping he was wrong. LOL!

I’ll survive, and meanwhile I cringe when the pain shoots or the burning starts. Man!

[beachn4fun]

LOL

Good morning dear ((HUGS))

[beachn4fun]

We were the same when hubby had his attack. We thought he had overworked his shoulder/back since the hurting started around the shoulder blade, before the rash appeared. We started treating it as such. But days later the rash appeared and nothing helped. He got up in the middle of the night and said I have to go to ER for his burning pain. Luckily I described to my mother who said it sounds like shingles. I was like, what? So I looked it up and bingo! Hubby called our regular doc. It’ll take a while to feel really better.

[luvie]

Thanks, Arrow! Good morning to you, too! (((hugs)))

“This too shall pass”...but I can’t help but be a bit impatient for it to happen now! LOL!

[luvie]

Umpfh...I’ve heard that it takes a while, and it’s hard to be patient. I’m so glad he’s over it...and sorry it took so long to get his diagnosis. He must have been miserable!

If it hadn’t been for the pain over my kidney, I would have probably waited longer, too.

[MEG33]

Oh MY..I had shingles decades ago..Pain indeed!
Luv and *Hugs*