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

Being a well established organization today, most people hardly give the American Red Cross a second thought, but before the Civil war began no such organization existed. A true daughter of the United States, Clara Barton was born to a humble family in Oxford Massachusetts on December 25th, 1821. Clara’s aunt had been a midwife in Maine many years prior to her birth, and Clara spent her childhood listening to her aunt’s intriguing stories. During the 1800s, women were usually limited occupation wise, and were either teachers or housewives, but this sort of career didn’t suit Clara who simply wanted to help her country.

During the Civil war, Clara saw a golden opportunity to serve her country behind the scenes. Soldiers were dying on the battle front every day from wounds that could have been easily healed. Having had previous knowledge nursing her ailing brother’s wounds, Clara had a great understanding of the nursing profession and was passionate about pursuing her dream of healing injured soldiers. At first, her wishes were meant with a scoff and a poignant “no” from government leaders, but when one has a dream it is impossible to let it die, and Clara was no exception. As she persisted, the government realized that men didn’t need to die needlessly when there was a person more than willing to help out. Finally, Clara was granted special access to travel to the front lines and she assisted thousands of soldiers that were in desperate need of her help. Thanks to Clara Barton, the American Red Cross has been helping to save lives and distribute needed good to soldiers across the world. Clara Barton is indeed a war hero.

Labels: nurses, red cross, women