Lori-Ann Piestewa

Lori-Ann Piestewa probably never thought of herself as anyone out of the ordinary, much less a hero. She was the single mother of two living in a little town in Arizona with a high unemployment rate, and needed to put food on the table. So, continuing the family tradition started by her grandfather, Lori-Ann joined the army.

She became a member of the 507th Maintenance Company operating in Iraq 2003 war. As one of the pioneer soldiers in the beginning of the war, Lori-Ann and her company took a wrong turn in a city south of Baghdad and were ambushed by a group of Iraqi soldiers.

Not flinching, Lori-Ann boldly drove the company’s Humvee through the ambush, trying to outrun the attackers. But the Humvee crashed into a pole, killing three of the other four passengers. Lori-Ann and her fellow soldier Jessica Lynch survived the crash and were taken captive.

Though Jessica Lynch was later freed, it was too late for Lori-Ann, who died of her wounds just a short time after being captured.

Lori-Ann was the first Native American woman to die in combat for the US Army and the first female US soldier to die in Iraq. The army awarded Lori-Ann the Purple Heart and Prisoner of War medals, though many believe she should have been awarded higher ones. Jessica Lynch has emphasized repeatedly that Lori-Ann was the true hero of the attack.

Lori-Ann’s home state of Arizona has done more to honor their local hero, doing everything from renaming a mountain after her to organizing annual games for Native Americans across the country.

Labels: war heroes, War in Iraq, women