FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Lori Piestewa ~ November 29, 2010

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[Kathy in Alaska]

 

Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.

Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!

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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! 

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

I know of what you speak. They are miserable.

Aw, you have them too? That's sad...what are you allergic to? For me it's dust, cats, dairy, soy, and corn...

[Kathy in Alaska]

A PRAYER OF PROTECTION

The light of God surround you
The love of God enfold you
The power of God protect you
The presence of God watch over you
Wherever you are, God is,
And all is well.
Amen.

BLESS THIS HOUSE

 Bless this house O Lord we pray; Make it safe by night and day; 
Bless these walls so firm and stout, Keeping want and trouble out:
Bless the roof and chimneys tall, Let thy peace lie over all;
Bless this door, that it may prove ever open to joy and love.
Bless these windows shining bright, Letting in God's heav'nly light;
Bless the hearth a'blazing there, with smoke ascending like a prayer;
Bless the folk who dwell within, keep them pure and free from sin;
Bless us all that we may be Fit O Lord to dwell with thee;
Bless us all that one day we May dwell O Lord with thee. 

(Click on graphics for music)

[BIGLOOK]

Aloha Teenster!

A less than perfect weekend, the kids aren't back yet. I'll see them later in the week.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

Good evening to you too!
((hugs))

:)

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

What type of errands?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, Nana Hope, for today's Pledge. Thanks, AfghanMan and Penguin Girl, for your service to America.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, teen...*HUGS*...allergies today? I hope not.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening to you, Sand...((HUGS))

[oldteen]

All the normal things...cats, dust, mold, oak, all grass except bermuda, pine, mulberry, dairy, etc., etc., etc...my life is one big allergy...lol. Goes almost year ‘round!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Aloha, Hawaii...((HUGS))...wahines home yet? How is your rain situation? Did you get enough over the summer?

[oldteen]

Yes, but not as bad as yesterday, thank goodness.

[Kathy in Alaska]

And in first....Deo grabs the gold!!

[oldteen]

At least you have something to look forward to! :)

[BIGLOOK]

Aloha again Night Owl!

The young wahines haven't gotten back yet, probably later tonight.

We've had more than enough rain; fortunately it rains at night and in the early morning leaving fair skies in the afternoons.

[SevenofNine]

Breaking news via Twitter Liesile Nelson DEAD

joebrooks Joe Brooks
RT @WireUpdate: CANADIAN RADIO REPORTS ACTOR LESLIE NIELSEN HAS DIED IN FLORIDA - http://bit.ly/dUHDnf #FB
2 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[Kathy in Alaska]

And snagging the silver....teen is second!!

[DLfromthedesert]

Thank you for honoring this great Arizonan hero. God Bless our brave Americans fighting for our freedom.

[oldteen]

fortunately it rains at night and in the early morning leaving fair skies in the afternoons

That's exactly the way it should be! ;)

[Kathy in Alaska]

OOPS!!!!! My bad.

Nana Hope snags the silver for second!!

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

All the normal things...cats, dust, mold, oak, all grass except bermuda, pine, mulberry, dairy, etc., etc., etc

Oh I have mold too,...forgot to list that...I'm so glad I don't have the pollen allergies. At least not yet. I didn't used to have all the other allergies either. They just kinda gradually came on...

my life is one big allergy...lol. Goes almost year ‘round!

That is not a 'lol'. My goodness. How do you react? Hives? Congestion? Runny eyes? Other?
Do you take any medication for it? And if so, are there any you would recommend?