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During a recent Democratic debate, both Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama indicated that all female citizens should register for the Selective Service. Neither candidate was as ridiculous as former Sen. Mike Gravel, who said, when it comes to men and women being drafted, "What's the difference?" The attitude the Democrats have on this issue has already caused harm to the military. Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, has been watching the feminization of military-personnel policy for decades. She explains that "gender-integrated basic training is based on the unrealistic assumption that men and women are interchangeable in...

PHOENIX - The family of a soldier killed in Iraq (news - web sites) had harsh words Wednesday for the network that aired footage of her, bloody and bruised, in an Iraqi hospital bed shortly before she died. AP Photo   The footage, aired Tuesday on "NBC Nightly News," shows Lori Piestewa and Jessica Lynch — Army privates and best friends — at a hospital where they were taken after a March 23 ambush. Lynch was rescued April 1. Airing the tape — which NBC said was filmed but never broadcast by Iraqi television — created a sense of fear,...

NEW YORK - Graphic video footage of a badly injured Jessica Lynch and Lori Piestewa, who may have died shortly afterward, was taken by Iraqi state television following the ambush of the soldiers' Army convoy, NBC reported Tuesday night. The video, aired on "NBC Nightly News," shows the two Army privates at the hospital where they were taken following the March 23 ambush of the 507th Maintenance Co. The tape was never aired in Iraq, NBC reported. Piestewa, her face swollen and bruised and her head loosely bandaged, is shown as someone positions her feet, and then her head, for...

PHOENIX -- House Republicans upset with the handling of the renaming of Squaw Peak are moving to strip Gov. Janet Napolitano of her power to appoint most of the members of the State Board on Geographic and Historic Names. The legislation would require that all six of the nine members be appointed by lawmakers, four by the majority party and two by the minority. The remaining choices would be up to the Arizona Historical Society, the Arizona Association of Counties and the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. Potentially more significant, it would prevent any state employee from sitting on...

If you buy PFc Jessica Lynch's book when it comes out next month, you could help the children of other soldiers. The former prisoner of war established a foundation to assist children of soldiers, particularly ones whose mother or father were killed while serving. Lynch is doing this to honor the memory of her best friend PFc Lori Piestewa, who was killed when the 507th maintenance company was ambushed in March. Piestewa was the mother of two small children. Lynch's attorney, Stephen Goodwin, says the foundation will be funded with money from Lynch's forthcoming book and other revenue sources. Goodwin...

<p>Shoshana Johnson deserves a lot more attention than she is getting. Three days ago, Johnson, an Army specialist who was shot in both legs during the firefight in Iraq that made another female soldier in her unit famous, was honored in Chicago by the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.</p>

CROW AGENCY - The descendants of Crazy Horse trotted across 360 miles of prairie for a chance to charge up Last Stand Hill early this morning. The 20 riders of the Great Sioux Nation Victory Ride set out June 9 from the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. They wanted to take a slow, contemplative path to the battlefield where their ancestors found victory 127 years ago. It was a chance to remind the tribe's young people of the one unmistakable outcome of the battle, rider Doug War Eagle said. "We're still here," he said. Tuesday night the riders...

<p>It's an interesting article about late PFC Lori Piestewa...In fact, her mother is Hispanic, not Hopi. There is a photo of her, her ex-husband, and her children. The article also discusses her marriage...</p>

<p>It's an article on how brave PFC Piestewa was... Reminds me of the film "Courage Under Fire"...Meg Ryan played an officer during the 1st Gulf War.</p>

Per KFYI, the vote to approve this change was 5 for, 2 against. So much for a law that says there must be a five year waiting period.

"This is a woman who died for her country doing what she was supposed to be doing," Eric Ehst, spokesman, Phoenix-Scottsdale National Organization for Women, on Lori Piestewa Squaw Peak, in Phoenix, Ariz., has been renamed Piestewa Peak in honor of one of the state's fallen heroes, a 23-year-old, Native-American, single mother of two. It is a fitting tribute to Pfc. Lori Piestewa, the only female U.S. solder killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. However, her death is not only a tragedy, it is a national disgrace and Piestewa Peak should serve as a painful reminder of a military policy run...

<p>Gov. Janet Napolitano said Monday that she regretted the "heavy-handed" action of a top staffer whose arm-twisting phone call contributed to a political firestorm over the renaming of Squaw Peak to Piestewa Peak.</p> <p>The governor chastised Deputy Chief of Staff Mario Diaz for calling a high-ranking Phoenix police officer to put pressure on the chairman of the State Board of Geographic Names.</p>

Arizona has a budget crisis. One-sixth of its population is registered for its free health care program. Illegal immigrants inundate its emergency rooms and congregate in clumps along streets and sidewalks, untouchable by law enforcement officials immersed in cultural sensitivity training and harassed as defendants in profiling lawsuits. But, Gov. Janet Napolitano is a woman of action. Responding to the fiscal and social crises, she did what any chief executive would. She convened an emergency meeting of the Arizona State Board of Geographic and Historic Names. The Gov asked that the offensive name of Squaw Peak, a Phoenix mountain, and...

The first American woman killed in Iraq is Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa. She is American Indian and one of eight soldiers found during the rescue of POW Jessica Lynch, who was Lori's room mate at Ft. Bliss, El Paso , Texas. Lori was 23 years of age.. the mother of a four year old son and a three year old daughter. She lived in Tuba City, Arizona and was a member of the Hopi Nation. There are currently 56 Hopis serving in the Us military... 48 are in Iraq. Lori is believed to be the first American Indian woman...

Arizona Mountain Renamed for Fallen Native American ServicewomanFeminist Daily News WireApril 18, 2003In the hopes of righting a historical wrong while honoring the first American servicewoman killed in Iraq, Squaw Peak in Arizona-- named for the derogatory term for Native American woman-- will now be called Piestewa Peak, after Private Lori Piestewa.Piestewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe from Arizona, also was the first Native American servicewoman ever to be killed in the line of duty, according to the Associated Press. "I'm wondering if during her short life Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa was ever referred to as a squaw." It...

This is a beautiful tribute that was sent to me by a good friend in Georgia who is in close touch with native America and it seems to have not been seen by most here. I posted the link on a couple of other threads and it was suggested that it deserves its own thread. > Click on the picture

Tribe Donates Scholarship To Family Mashantucket— The Mashantucket Pequots have donated a $40,000 scholarship to the family of a female soldier who died in the war in Iraq. The scholarship is being given to the family of Lori Piestewa, a mother of two children who was the first female U.S. solider killed in the war. Piestewa, a resident of Arizona, is the first American Indian woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military, according to the tribe. Piestewa's 507th Army Maintenance Co. was ambushed March 23 near Nasiriyah. She was one of 11 soldiers listed as...

Janet Napolitano, close buddy of Hillary Clinton and the Governor of Arizona is causing a political firestorm in Arizona. She has jumped into the middle of a political correctness issue with a view to making political hay from it. It has long been a bone of contention with the PC crowd that one of the mountains in Central Phoenix is named “Squaw Peak”. Squaw, claim the PC crowd, is a derogatory term for a Native American woman, some even claim it refers to just a certain part of a woman, but that is till in dispute. The PC crowd have...

<p>We dishonor the memory of Lori Piestewa with our pettiness. She put on a uniform and went to war and was killed, leaving behind a loving family and two small children. In return we waste the opportunity to honor her sacrifice and mend a bleeding insult by depreciating her life and pouring salt on the wound.</p>

Tribute to a Hopi Warrior By David Yeagley “Hoka hey!” cried the Sioux in 1876, “It’s a good day to die.” Maybe the Hopi Indians can say the same thing today, in 2003. PFC Lori Piestewa, a Hopi Indian woman from Tuba City, Arizona, was killed in action in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Many reports call attention to the fact that she was the first woman soldier killed in the Iraqi conflict, and that she was one of the few Indian women in United States military service. And for whom was 22-year-old Pfc. Piestewa fighting? The people of Iraq, the people...

More than 1,000 people are gathered at the Biggs Army Airfield deployment facility this afternoon to pay tribute to the nine members of the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss who were killed in an ambush near the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on March 23. Among those attending the ceremony are Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki along with Congressional leaders. Soldiers and civilians began filing into the deployment facility around 1:30 p.m. today. They steadily filled chairs facing a stage backdrop with a wall of blue fabric and a 20-foot tall american flag. At the front of the...

I trust the moderators will tolerate a first-time threadmaker and help me to put this where it goes. Building from the David Bloom support thread, I begin this thread to direct attention to the recently established trust fund for the two children of Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa. She perished in combat when the 507th Maintenance Company was ambushed in southern Iraq, and leaves behind two children. She was the first woman to die in combat, and one of the small number of Native American women in the U.S. military. She served her country and her tribe with honor and dignity...

I have contacted the family of Lori Piestewa. What a beautiful family they are. They say that the outpouring of love to them from not only the United States but from all over the world has been really appreciated by them. They say it helps so much in dealing with the distress of losing a loved one. Click on the link above to know Lori more personally. She leaves behind two very young children. She was a single mother, and her parents now are having to raise her children. If you wish to contact the family to send your condolences,...

Monday, April 07, 2003 During their tour at Fort Bliss, a sprawling military base on the western tip of Texas, Jessica Lynch and Lori Ann Piestewa had little choice but to spend time together. As logistics and supply specialists, their military duties constantly intertwined. When Private First Class Lynch needed to stock up on toilet paper or shaving kits for deploying troops, she ordered the gear from Private First Class Piestewa, stationed in a nearby warehouse. When they were not at work -- a rarity in the weeks leading up to the Iraqi war -- the pair shared a tiny...

TUBA CITY, Ariz. (AP) A photo shows Pfcs. Lori Piestewa and Jessica Lynch in February, the day before they were deployed to the Middle East: roommates, good friends, smiling in their Army fatigues. Six weeks later their unit moved into Iraq, where they and several of their fellow soldiers vanished. Piestewa's family on the Navajo Reservation and Lynch's family a continent away in West Virginia were joined in an agonizing wait for word of their fate. On Saturday, Lynch's parents left their home to fly to Germany for a reunion with their rescued daughter. Piestewa's mourned the death of the...

<p>I guess she is probably the first Native American woman to be killed in combat...The only question is if she was killed during the ambush or after the capture.</p>

1st U.S. Servicewoman Is Killed in Iraq By LYNN DUCEY .c The Associated Press TUBA CITY, Ariz. (AP) - Pfcs. Lori Piestewa and Jessica Lynch were roommates and friends. For more than a week, their families a continent apart were joined in waiting for word of their fate in Iraq. On Saturday, as Lynch's parents left their West Virginia home to fly to Germany for a reunion with their rescued daughter, Piestewa's mourned the death of the first American servicewoman killed in the war. Both women were members of the Army's 507th Maintenance Company, based at Fort Bliss in Texas....

U.S. Declares Near Chokehold on Baghdad By CALVIN WOODWARD .c The Associated Press U.S. troops declared a near chokehold on Baghdad on Saturday and dashed daringly inside, blasting targets nestled in palm trees, to show they can move at will against the capital's beleaguered defenders. Expectations were high of an ultimate showdown with a shredded but dangerous Iraqi force, not only in Baghdad but in Basra to the south and elsewhere along the war's many points of conflict. ``They're pretty much cut off in all directions,'' Air Force Capt. Dani Burrows, speaking for Central Command, said of Baghdad's fighters. Saddam...

Some Voices From the War on Saturday .c The Associated Press Some voices Saturday from the war on Iraq: ``I'm an American soldier, too,'' Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, responding to U.S. special forces who stormed an Iraqi hospital to rescue the POW. ``Either he's alive, and giving really bad direction to his armed forces, or he's dead and they're making things up as they go.'' - Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on President Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi military campaign. ``We were able to chop off their rotten heads.'' - an Iraqi...

Names of the four US Marines who died in yesterday's helicopter crash: Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of Bloomington, Ill. Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of Houston, Texas Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Watersbey, 29, of Baltimore, Md. The Pentagon has just released the names of two more US Marines who were killed in Iraq. I'll post as soon as I find that.

8 Bodies Found in Raid Were U.S. Soldiers .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Eight of the bodies found during the rescue of an American POW in Iraq this week were members of her ambushed Army maintenance unit, the Pentagon announced Saturday. The eight soldiers were with Pfc. Jessica Lynch when their unit, the 507th Maintenance Company, was ambushed near Nasiriyah on March 23. The U.S. commandos who freed Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah this week also found 11 bodies, nine of which were believed to be those of Americans. The nine bodies had been returned to a...

Relatives of Missing Soldiers Fear Worst By CHRIS ROBERTS .c The Associated Press FORT BLISS, Texas (AP) - Relatives of soldiers missing from the 507th Maintenance Company spent Wednesday fearing the worst after learning that 11 bodies - some of them believed to be Americans - had been found during the rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital. ``With every day that passes, it just gets worse,'' said Amalia Estrella-Soto, mother of 18-year-old Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto of El Paso. ``It's another day without knowing anything.'' Her son and Lynch, a 19-year-old supply clerk, were among 15 soldiers of...

A poignant letter 03/30/2003 Staff and wire reports A Tuba City woman who was reported missing after her company was ambushed March 23 in Nasiriya, Iraq allegedly responded to a letter written by a Texas third-grader involved in a class project. The letter from Pfc. Lori Piestewa arrived Friday, just five days after the Department of Defense reported her missing along with seven other members of the 507th Maintenance Company out of Fort Bliss, Texas, according to the El Paso Times. Five others from the 507th are listed as prisoners of war, and two were killed. Alexandria Ramirez of...

By David Yeagley PFC Lori Piestewa, 22, was among the first United States military personnel to be missing in action. As of March 28, there’s no sure word whether she’s held captive or was killed. The first report, March 23, gave little identity of the American soldiers captured, but only the facts of their predicament. Part of a supply convoy, the 507th Maintenance Division, made a wrong turn near An Nasiriyah, and was attacked. The next day, March 24, a report in the Arizona Sun pictured Lori, but didn’t note her obvious ethnicity. “It’s an Indian girl!” I shouted, when...

'Invisible Soldier' - Disappearance Shocks Far- Flung Arizona Reservation Community By Lynn Ducey Associated Press Writer Published: Mar 28, 2003 TUBA CITY, Ariz. (AP) - In this wind-swept town on the sprawling Navajo reservation, an American flag flutters near a trailer home and a swing set moves in the breeze. A stream of solemn visitors silently pass by yellow balloons and signs offering support. "The spirits are there and the angels have gone to keep her safe. Don't worry. We love you," reads one poster taped to a chain link fence. Inside the home are the parents of Pfc. Lori...

Signs of U.S. POWs found at hospital NBC: Bloodied female U.S. uniforms found at hospital March 28 -- U.S. Marines now control a hospital where they say they found bloodied U.S. uniforms. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports. NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES AN NASIRIYAH, March 28 — U.S. Marines who secured a hospital that had been used by Iraqi forces later found several bloodied U.S. uniforms worn by female soldiers, NBC’s Kerry Sanders reported Friday from the hospital. The find suggested that Iraq had held several POWs at the hospital, which is in An Nasiriyah, a town where at least five...