03/22/2024
March 23, 2024, marks the 21st anniversary of the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company, a unit that was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. As we continue to honor our women in uniform during Women’s History Month, there are three women that were members of the 507th Maintenance Company that we would like to recognize and remember. These Soldiers were doing their jobs as members of the 507th Maintenance Company on March 23, 2003, near An Nasiriya, Iraq when their lives would forever change. One of women would die from her injuries, the other two were seriously wounded and captured by Iraqi insurgents becoming Prisoners of War.
Killed in the ambush was Lori Ann Piestewa. Lori was born December 14, 1979, in Tuba city, Arizona, a town located on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Lori was a member of the Hopi Indian Tribe and as a child, she was given the Hopi name Kocha-Hon-Mana. (White Bear Girl). Her surname Piestewa derived from a Hopi language root meaning "water pooled on the desert by a hard rain", thus Piestewa loosely translates as “the people who live by the water”. Lori joined the U.S. Army on March 30, 2001, attending basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and advanced individual training at Ft Lee, Virginia, (now Ft Gregg-Adams). She was then assigned to the 507th Maintenance Company, part of the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas where she performed clerical and supply duties with the unit. In January 2003, the unit was alerted for deployment to the Southwest Asia Theater of Operations and would soon find herself in Iraq. On March 23, 2003, Lori and other members of her unit were ambushed outside of the city of An Nasiriya, Iraq where Lori suffered severe injuries and was taken prisoner. The severity of her wounds ultimately led to her death. Lori was the first Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. Army and the first women in the U.S. military to die in the Iraq War. She was only 23 years old. Piestewa was posthumously promoted to the rank of Specialist and awarded the Purple Heart Medal and Prisoner of War Medal. Piestewa said to a friend before she left for Iraq that “I’m not trying to be a hero,” but all who know her remember her as one.
Shoshana Nyree Johnson was born January 18, 1973, in Pedro Miguel, Panama. Johnson is a second-generation U.S. Army veteran. Her father is retired Army Sergeant First Class Claude Johnson, and her mother’s name is Eunice. Shoshana joined the U.S. Army in 1998 and served as a culinary specialist throughout her time in the service. Her first duty station was in Colorado and when it was time to re-enlist, Johnson had asked to be stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas where she could be close to family members and other relatives. The Army agreed and Johnson was sent to Fort Bliss and was assigned to the 507th Maintenance Company. The 507th deployed to Kuwait on Feb. 20, 2003, as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Johnson, Piestewa and Jessica Lynch were all members of the unit at the time of the ambush. During the Battle of Nasiriyah, Specialist Johnson suffered bullet wounds to both of her ankles and was captured by Iraqi insurgent forces. Johnson was held prisoner in Iraq for 22 days. She was freed in a rescue mission conducted by United States Marine Corps units on April 13, 2003. Johnson was the first black female prisoner of war in the history of the United States Military. Johnson was awarded the Purple Heart Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, and Prisoner of War Medals among other decorations during her military career. Johnson wrote a book about her life and Army experience, I’m Still Standing: From Captive U.S. Soldier to Free Citizen – My Journey Home, with M.L. Doyle, which Simon & Schuster published in 2010.
Jessica Dawn Lynch was born April 26, 1983, in Palestine, West Virginia. On September 19, 2001, Lynch enlisted in the U.S. Army and attended basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. She later completed Advanced Individual Training for her Military Occupational Specialty as a unit supply specialist in the Quartermaster Corps at Fort Lee, Virginia. (Now Fort Gregg-Adams). Lynch was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas and assigned to the 507th Maintenance Company. The unit deployed February 20, 2003, to Kuwait and later in March the unit moved into Iraq. On March 23, 2003, Lynch was operating a vehicle in a convoy when the vehicle became disabled. Lynch’s friend and roommate while at Ft Bliss, Lori Piestewa, drove alongside the disabled truck and picked up Lynch. That vehicle (a Humvee) was subsequently struck by small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades causing it to crash into the back of another disabled vehicle causing serious injuries to its occupants. Lynch was knocked unconscious and dragged from the vehicle by Iraqi insurgents and later taken to a hospital in An Nasiriya. On April 1, 2003, U.S. Special Operations Forces rescued Lynch in a nighttime raid on the hospital. It was the first successful rescue of an American prisoner of war since World War II and the first ever of a woman. Private First Class Lynch was awarded the Purple Heart Medal, Bronze Star Medal, and Prisoner of War Medal. Lynch tells her own story about the ambush, capture, rescue and her recovery in her biographical account I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story by Rick Bragg.
Let us remember and reflect upon the brave sacrifices and extreme dedication of all our Women serving in the US Armed Forces throughout the world as well as those serving in our communities in all career fields.
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world" Anne Frank.
