Lori Piestewa: 'Hell yeah, I've taken fire!'

THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2003

Lori Piestewa, the Hopi woman killed in action in Iraq, came under fire during a March 23 ambush in Iraq but there is no evidence she was shot, The Arizona Republic reports.

Piestewa was driving a Humvee carrying her first sergeant, said Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), who received a briefing from military officials about the attack. She refused to let another driver take over the vehicle and maneuvered through machine-gun, rocket and mortar-shell fire, Renzi said.

"Hell, yeah, I've taken fire!" Piestewa reportedly said at one point, according to witnesses.

Piestewa sustained injuries after the Humvee crashed. She was taken to an Iraqi hospital, where she died, according to news accounts. It was the same hospital from where Jessica Lynch, a friend and roommate of Piestewa, was later rescued.

Get the Story:
Piestewa's 'courageous' acts told by Arizona congressman (The Arizona Republic 6/19)

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