Medal Of Valor

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Matt York / AP American Indians award former POW with warriors medal of valor

A portrait of Army Spc. Lori Piestewa, the first American servicewoman killed in the war in Iraq, hangs in the background, as her mother, Percy Piestewa, left, and former POW Jessica Lynch look.



By BETH DeFALCO
ASSOCIATED PRESS


PHOENIX, March 22 ? An American Indian veterans group awarded a ''warriors medal of valor'' Wednesday to former POW Jessica Lynch in a ceremony on the mountain named after her best friend and fallen comrade, Army Spc. Lori Piestewa.

The ceremony on Piestewa Peak marked the two-year anniversary of the ambush on a convoy in Iraq in which Piestewa was killed and Lynch was taken prisoner.
Piestewa, a Hopi, is believed to be the first American Indian woman killed while fighting for the U.S. military.
''She was a very strong-minded woman,'' said Lynch, the former Army supply clerk from West Virginia who is still recovering from injuries suffered in the ambush. ''Her strength rubbed off on me.''
The medal was presented to her by the Native American Veterans Council. A member of the Havasupai-Grand Canyon tribe used feathers to send sage smoke through the crowd, and members of the Sioux nations sang to the rhythm of a drum.
Lynch, 21, and Piestewa, 23, served together in the 507th Maintenance Company, based at Fort Bliss, Texas, and were roommates there and tentmates in Iraq.
With proceeds from a book deal, Lynch created a foundation to help Piestewa's two children, 6-year-Brandon and 5-year-old Carla.

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