Posted on 11/28/2010 5:13:56 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska
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." |
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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 bookI'm a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch StoryPiestewa 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
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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! |
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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! |
Aw, you have them too? That's sad...what are you allergic to? For me it's dust, cats, dairy, soy, and corn...
:)
What type of errands?
Good evening, teen...*HUGS*...allergies today? I hope not.
Good evening to you, Sand...((HUGS))
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!
Aloha, Hawaii...((HUGS))...wahines home yet? How is your rain situation? Did you get enough over the summer?
Yes, but not as bad as yesterday, thank goodness.
At least you have something to look forward to! :)
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
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Thank you for honoring this great Arizonan hero. God Bless our brave Americans fighting for our freedom.
That's exactly the way it should be! ;)
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?
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