Ambush on Fort Bliss unit in Iraq not forgotten, except by Rumsfeld
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Donald Rumsfeld recently said he did not remember the 507th Maintenance Company.
For El Pasoans, the 2003 ambush of that Fort Bliss unit during the Iraq invasion brought home the horror of war. Rumsfeld — the former U.S. secretary of defense who was interviewed recently for an El Paso book tour appearance — orchestrated the invasion.
In the larger picture, the invasion was declared a success. On March 20, the rush from Kuwait to Baghdad began. By April 9, the statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was toppled. On May 1, President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat operations.
In the aftermath, as the insurgency began to grow, some would criticize Rumsfeld and U.S. military leaders for a lack of planning and for not deploying more soldiers to secure banks, museums, weapons depots and other important sites. But, in the interview, Rumsfeld defended his strategy.
“War is an uncertain and a terrible business,” Rumsfeld said. “I have no idea what you’re talking about (regarding the 507th) or what that might have been, but I know that no one recommended that there be more forces É and that was the force level that, obviously, was all that was necessary to succeed rather rapidly in major combat operations.”
The 507th, it later became apparent, got lost in the rush. The ambush and subsequent rescue by Marines was the deadliest single event of the invasion.
Among nine Fort Bliss soldiers killed in the ambush were Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto from El Paso and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Johnny Villareal Mata of Pecos. Seven were taken prisoner, including Pfc. Joseph Hudson of Alamogordo and Spc. Shoshana Johnson of El Paso.
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Humvee driver Pfc. Lori Piestewa, from Tuba City, Ariz., and passenger Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a West Virginia native, were injured. The others died in the crash or from enemy fire. Johnson dismounted from the tractor-trailer and was shot through both ankles.
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More about Lori Piestewa:
SPC Lori Ann Piestewa (December 14, 1979 – March 23, 2003) was a U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps soldier killed during the same Iraqi Army attack in which fellow soldiers Shoshana Johnson and Jessica Lynch sustained injuries. A member of the Hopi tribe, Piestewa was the first Native American woman in history to die in combat while serving with the U.S. military and the first woman in the U.S. armed forces killed in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[2] Arizona’s Piestewa Peak is named in her honor.
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Jessica Lynch has repeatedly said that Piestewa is the true hero of the ambush and named her daughter Dakota Ann in honor of her fallen comrade.
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Her death led to a rare joint prayer gathering between members of the Hopi and Navajo tribes, which have had a centuries-old rivalry
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Kocha-Hon-Mana (Hopi name) . Place of birth: Tuba City, Arizona. Place of death: Nasiriyah, Iraq