Military women slaughtered by Congress?

May 1, 2003

“This is a woman who died for her country doing what she was supposed to be doing,” Eric Ehst, spokesman, Phoenix-Scottsdale National Organization for Women, on Lori Piestewa

Squaw Peak, in Phoenix, Ariz., has been renamed Piestewa Peak in honor of one of the state’s fallen heroes, a 23-year-old, Native-American, single mother of two.

It is a fitting tribute to Pfc. Lori Piestewa, the only female U.S. solder killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. However, her death is not only a tragedy, it is a national disgrace and Piestewa Peak should serve as a painful reminder of a military policy run amuck.

Lori Piestewa has been called a warrior, but she was not a combat soldier and, despite what the National Organization of Women would have us believe, she was not doing “what she was supposed to be doing.”

Piestewa, a mechanic, was assigned to the Army’s 507th Maintenance Unit, which got lost and was ambushed. Two other women, Pfc. Jessica Lynch and Spec. Shoshana Johnson were captured, but managed to survive their ordeals.

The important thing to remember is this: These women never should have been assigned to a war zone. They were there because of the timidity of the men who have served in the last eight United States Congresses, men who failed their responsibility to provide proper oversight of the military. These men were willing to sacrifice enlisted women like Piestewa rather than stand up to a small number of radical feminists among their colleagues.

By all accounts, Lori Piestewa was an exceptional young woman. She was hard working, extremely patriotic, good natured and a joy to be around. She was a softball standout at Tuba City High School and commander of the Junior ROTC.

When she was divorced two years ago, Piestewa joined the Army – not to be a warrior as some have suggested – but for security. Like a lot of young mothers of modest means, Piestewa looked forward to the training and educational opportunities the military would provide. It would give her the opportunity to provide a better life for her children.

When Piestewa joined the Army, she had no reason to suspect that she would see combat. There are rules that prevent women from being assigned to ground combat units. Her job was listed as “combat support.” When war broke out, she didn’t complain, or try to shirk her responsibility to serve.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the last eight Congresses that were AWOL when Presidents Carter and Clinton had their surrogates throwing out the “risk rule” and re-classifying units like the 507th Maintenance Company that operate in war zones so that women would be assigned to them.

That is why Lori Piestewa’s children will grow up without their mother.

Lori Piestewa, followed in the footsteps of her father and grandfather by proudly serving in the United States military, but her male family members were taller, heavier and, more importantly, possessed more upper-body strength.

Make no mistake: We need women in the services! Women outperform men in many jobs, but not jobs that rely on brute strength. No amount of physical training and conditioning can make up for difference in the way our bodies are designed. No amount of gender norming – where the emphasis is on equal effort, not equal ability – can give women an equal chance to survive. It not only is unfair, it is unwise.

With Republicans in control of Congress and the White House, a funny thing has happened. Pro-family groups have grown strangely silent on this issue.

Instead of pointing out the folly of sending women into combat zones and pressing those in charge to rewrite the regulations to prevent this from ever happening again, they are tip-toeing around the edges, calling for a commission to study the effects of mothers in military service, more specifically the effects of mothers’ absence on children.

While this is important, there is ample research to show that young children effectively abandoned by their mothers for lengthy periods do suffer, so what are they trying to prove?

Sadly, it appears they are trying to prove they still are relevant, while covering for a Congress and a White House that do not want to go anywhere near this issue.

Could it be that President George W. Bush, who was not afraid to take on Saddam Hussein, is afraid to stand up to a few radical feminists? May it never be!

Must we wait until we are in a war with a formidable foe – when the pink body bags equal the blue body bags – before we are willing to do something about it? How many more Lori Piestewas will have to die before we right this horrible wrong?