Letter to the Editor: Remembering the sacrifices of Lori Piestewa and other soldiers

I drove past the Tuba City Trading post on the rainy morning of March 23, 2003, on my way to work. The first female casualty of the Iraq War was announced on NPR. Lori Piestewa, 23 years old, had died when her truck was ambushed. I could not believe it. I went to church at St Judes with her family. The tragedy and horrors of war had reached all the way out to the Navajo Nation. To Tuba City, Arizona.

23 years later, I saw a photo of another young female US Army private killed in action. Isabella Gonzales, 19 years old, died on July 17, 2026. She was from Carrollton, Texas. I know her community is reeling as much as Tuba City did 23 years ago. I felt the familiar pangs of loss.