Guest Author - Osha Gray Davidson

The following article first appeared in Rolling Stone in May of 2004. It is written by Osha Gray Davidson. I received permission from Mr. Davidson to reprint the article here to include in my series of "Native Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces". Due to the length of the article, it will be divided up into seven parts. To read the article in its entirety, please click on the link provided at the end of the article. Thank you. Phyllis Doyle Burns


A Wrong Turn in the Desert - Part Seven, Final.
By Osha Gray Davidson
Rolling Stone, 27 May 2004


There was encouraging news on April 1st. Jessica Lynch had been rescued from a hospital in Nasiriyah. But three days later, the men in uniform were back at the Piestewa’s door. The team that had retrieved Lynch had discovered a mass grave behind the hospital. One of the bodies had been positively identified as Lori’s. She had survived the crash but died at the hospital a short time later, lying in a bed next to Lynch, the roommate she had come to Iraq to protect. Piestewa was buried on Hopi land, out in the desert, in a cemetery reached by a rutted dirt road. On a recent day, her grave was covered with flowers, cards, a bottle of her favorite iced tea, a PayDay candy bar and a banner reading: "Forever Our Lady Warrior."

Piestewa’s family continues to appear at pro-military events, vocally supporting the troops that remain in Iraq. But as the fighting dragged on, their doubts and frustrations about the war itself began to slip out. In November, the Piestewas were the guests of honor at the convention of the National Congress of American Indians attended by 3,000 members, many of them veterans. During the opening session, Lori’s father and mother sat on the stage with her children, three-year-old Carla and five-year-old Brandon, as those in attendance rose and sang traditional songs in honor of Lori.

Then Terry Piestewa stood up. He thanked the audience for the tribute to his daughter – and called on all Indian soldiers to leave Iraq and come home. "It is not right for us Native Americans to be out there doing someone else’s job," he declared. He received a standing ovation.

The following month, NBC aired a video showing Lori Piestewa in the hospital in Iraq, gravely wounded and in pain. Her family was furious at the network for what they saw as a ghoulish invasion of Lori’s last moments of life. They issued a scathing indictment of the media – and included some pointed anti-war criticisms of the Bush administration. It said in part: "Let us make sure that both President Bush, his father and each of his aides and advisers get a copy of Lori dying in agony so that they realize, from the comfort of their homes, that war should be the last option."

"We don’t want war," says Piestewa’s brother Wayland. "Unfortunately, we know that it’s one of the things that even our culture had to experience. But maybe we can change things next time. Maybe before we decide to go into another country, we can make sure we get all the facts. And let’s have those who are responsible for making that decision, let’s have them be truthful."

Even after Lori was buried, the circumstances surrounding her death remained sketchy. Every rumor was reported as fact, and her family didn’t know what to believe. They received reports of Lori fighting to the death, taking many Iraqis with her. "She drew her weapon and fought," Rick Renzi, an Arizona congressman, announced after one Army briefing. "It was her last stand."

It was the kind of image that would make many military families proud: the heroic warrior, guns blazing, fighting to the end. But when Terry Piestewa finally learned the truth about his daughter’s death, he was relieved. Lori hadn’t fired a shot. All she was doing was driving, trying to get the people she cared about to safety.


Osha Gray Davidson

www.oshadavidson.com
Society of Environmental Journalists
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Committee to Protect Journalists
Writers Guild of America, West

Note from Native American Editor at www.bellaonline.com, http://nativeamerican.bellaonline.com:

My heartfelt thanks and appreciation goes out to Osha Gray Davidson for allowing me to share his article with my readers.

Phyllis Doyle Burns