Family Remembers Iraq War's First Female Casualty

Associated Press

The room is jammed full of symbolic keepsakes, including a green Miss Junior High Indian Princess crown, mounted caribou antlers sent from Alaska, three woven ``burden baskets'' from the Apache people and a big brown stuffed Teddy bear.

The memorial room in the home of Terry and Priscilla ``Percy'' Piestewa is kept locked and no photography is allowed. In this sanctuary, the Piestewas and their two grandchildren, Brandon, 9, and Carla, 8, pay tribute to the memory of Lori, the daughter and mother they loved so well.
Army Spc. Lori Ann Piestewa, 23, was killed March 23 during an ambush in Nasiriyah in the first days of the invasion of Iraq by U.S. forces and their allies.

``Papa'' and ``Grandma,'' as the children call them, have been caring for Brandon and Carla since the death of their mother.

``They'll be times when they'll miss their mother,'' said Terry, 64, who is Hopi and was born in Winslow. ``Percy takes them into the memorial room. She'll talk to them about their mother, and they'll feel better about their mother. It's kind of like a healing place to us.''

Lori, a member of the Hopi tribe, was the first American Indian woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military.

There's more to this story and her connection to Jessica Lynch. Click here: http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=768710&r=1