The networks are tripping over themselves this sweeps month to get big name interviews during prime time. This year it’s been Martha Stewart, Britney Spears, Elizabeth Smart, and Jessica Lynch. I think the Jessica Lynch story, while certainly heroic and important, has simply been exploited by everyone. The military was quick to use it as rallying point during the war. The media had no problem using first to promote the war and then to critique it. Now, the networks can’t get enough of Pvt. Lynch. But there’s another story that’s more important and more revealing. It’s the story of Lynch’s roommate at Ft. Bliss, Pfc. Lori Piestewa.

She was the first American Indian woman ever killed in combat. She died during the ambush of the 507rh Army Maintenance Unit. She left behind two young children. Her story is so compelling not just because of her Native American heritage, but because she’s a third generation soldier. He grandfather fought in World War II and her father fought in Vietnam. She was known as the “Lady Warrior” to her family and friends, and the morning that the Pentagon annouced her death, a light snow fell in the Arizona Desert. According to Hopi tradition, the deceased let their families know they are safe by sending moisture as a sign. Pfc. Lori Piestewa was 23.

Read the Lori Piestewa legacy blog