First Lady Meets With Slain Servicewoman's Kin

[sfc_darrel]

First Lady Meets With Slain Troop's Kin

May 8, 2003 10:17 PM EDT


KAYENTA, Ariz. - First lady Laura Bush met Thursday with the family of Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa, the only servicewoman killed during the Iraq war.

"The strength of the family was evident," she said during a stop in this Navajo Reservation community. "Because of Lori the world focused on the first servicewoman to die in combat."

Piestewa, 23, a member of the Hopi Tribe, was killed when her support convoy was ambushed near Nasiriyah in Iraq. The mother of two small children enlisted in the Army two years ago.

Piestewa has since become one of the most celebrated soldiers among Arizona war casualties. The state has renamed a Phoenix mountain peak and a freeway to honor Piestewa.

The meeting with Piestewa's family took place in the city of Page - about 70 miles from their home in Tuba City - before Bush visited the reservation to discuss literacy issues.

But the talk of war followed her there.

After her speech to several hundred people at a reservation high school, Navajo Nation Vice President Frank Dayish Jr. criticized the Bush administration, saying it was sending money overseas to help rebuild Iraq while forgetting about the people at home.

Dayish said he hoped she would tell the president that "we are a proud people who need help and assistance."

Bush later told reporters that she would discuss trying to get more money for the reservation with the president, but that resources are still needed overseas.

Earlier, she read to about 20 children at the Kayenta Service Unit of the Navajo Area Indian Health Service and touted her "Reach Out and Read" program, which trains doctors and nurses to advise parents about the importance of reading aloud.

[judyvillecco]

I think Mrs. Bush was correct to say she would discuss trying to get more money for the reservation with the president and should have kept quiet over sending money overseas. That' like saying to them...let them eat cake. Sorry but I think the Bush's are out of touch with poor people here at home. :re: