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Pfc. Lori Piestewa checked her equipment at Fort Bliss, Texas, in this Feb. 18, 2003 photo, as she prepared to deploy to the Iraq war with her unit, the 507th Maintenance Co. (PHOTO COURTESY EL PASO TIMES/RUDY GUTIERREZ)

Fallen Warrior

By Levi J. Long

DURANGO, Colo.-As snow fell upon the Hopi reservation last week, bombs continued to explode upon Iraq. And while one U.S. soldier's family was rejoicing, another U.S. soldier's family was mourning.

I count myself among the mourners.

I was saddened to hear about the loss of Pfc. Lori Piestewa, 23, of Tuba City, Ariz. Piestewa was the first American woman soldier killed in the Iraqi war. She was also one of the few Hopi women who served in the U.S. armed forces, and she leaves behind two children, a 4-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.

According to Associated Press reports, the remains of eight U.S. soldiers were found during the rescue of American POW Pfc. Jessica Lynch. Recently the media have spotlighted Lynch in their news reports, updating her progress in a hospital in Germany after her dramatic rescue in Iraq.

But of all the news reports that I watch on national TV networks or the national news stories that I read about the eight missing soldiers, rarely is there a mention of Piestewa outside of Native American news circles or in local coverage beyond Arizona.

It seems that the national media have cast light upon one U.S. soldier while leaving another U.S. soldier in the dark.

The difference, it seems, is that one was a white woman from West Virginia and the other was a Native American woman from a reservation.

This may not be the case, but it is interesting to note how the national media choose to acknowledge one person and ignore another.

A Friendship Made In War

However, even if race plays a role in how they are portrayed in the media, race did not affect the friendship between the two women.

Recently the Associated Press reported that Piestewa and Lynch were good friends and were roommates before being deployed to Iraq.

Both of these women served their country well, and even if I don't agree with the reasons for the United States going to war against Iraq, I respect and honor those troops who are serving their country.

Both Lynch, her family and the Piestewa family mourn the death of Lori and will always remember the brave soldier who fought for this country.

So as the bombs continue to drop and more soliders die, God willing they will come home soon, and rain will continue to weep upon the Earth, just as it did that fateful day when Lori was killed.

The Hopi believe that when a person from their homeland dies, their spirit returns to Hopi in the form of precipitation. Snow fell upon Hopi lands the day she was killed. That day a Hopi daughter, and her spirit, were returned home.

Lori, you are home. You will be remembered. And you will be missed.

Levi J. Long, Navajo, attends Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo. He is a graduate of the American Indian Journalism Institute and the Chips Quinn Scholars newspaper internship programs of the Freedom Forum. This article originally appeared in The Independent, the Fort Lewis College student newspaper, where Long is assistant news editor.