Hopi Pfc. is first woman killed in Iraq
Pfc. Lori Piestewa of the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, is dead, apparently killed in the ill-fated firefight between a supply company and Iraqi irregulars March 23.
An hour ago, it was announced that her body was recovered with six others from a hospital in Nasiriyah.
The seven missing Fort Bliss soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company ambushed March 23 are dead, the Department of Defense and U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, said Friday.
The dead were identified as Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, of El Paso; Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, 35, of Pecos, Texas; Spc. James Kiehl, 22, of Comfort, Texas; Pfc. Lori Piestewa, 22, of Tuba City, Ariz.; Pvt. Brandon Sloan, 19, of Bedford Heights, Ohio; Sgt. Donald Walters, 33, of Salem, Ore.; and Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy, 38, of Cleveland.
Piestewa of Tuba City, Arizona, was "a 22-year-old Hopi from the Navajo Reservation, the daughter of a Vietnam veteran and granddaughter of a World War II veteran."
Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who was rescued from an Iraqi hospital Tuesday, had bunked with Piestewa. Friday it was reported:
WASHINGTON - Rescued Pfc. Jessica Lynch has been unable to provide much definitive information about the whereabouts of her still-missing roommate, Pfc. Lori Piestewa of Tuba City, say two Arizona congressman.
But both Republican Reps. Rick Renzi, who represents Tuba City, and Trent Franks, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said they remain hopeful that Piestewa, 23, is still alive despite reports of 11 bodies recovered during Lynch's dramatic rescue Tuesday at a hospital in Iraq.
Piestewa's body was identified hours later.
Note: I have some thoughts about the comparative invisibility of Pfc. Lori Piestewa and Spec. Shoshana Johnson at Silver Rights, my other blog.
