Stanton, Ansari Call on Secretary of Defense to Reinstate Stories of Arizona Tribal Service Members

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Reps. Greg Stanton and Yassamin Ansari urged Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to reinstate the stories of two Native American service members to the Department of Defense’s website. “We write to request the immediate reinstatement of two courageous Arizonans, Pima/Akimel O’odham Marine Pfc. Ira Hayes and Hopi Army Specialist Lori Ann Piestewa, to the Department of Defense (DOD) website,” wrote the representatives. “Other mistakenly removed references to Native American veterans and service members have been restored, but information on these two pivotal figures is still missing.” Pfc. Hayes was one of six Marines who raised the American flag at Iwo Jima in 1945, a point of pride and inspiration for the Gila River Indian Community. Army Specialist Piestewa was the first American service woman killed in action in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the first Hopi and Native American woman to die in foreign combat in the service of the United States The full letter is available HERE .