"It's been five years since the start of the Iraq war and five years since the death of Lori Piestewa.
Piestewa, 23, was a member of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona. She was killed after her Army unit was ambushed in southern Iraq on March 23, 2003.
Piestewa left behind two children. Brandon, 9, and Carla, 8, are now being cared for by Piestewa's parents, Terry and Priscilla.
"They'll be times when they'll miss their mother,'' Terry, 64, tells the Associated Press. "Percy takes them into the memorial room. She'll talk to them about their mother, and they'll feel better about their mother. It's kind of like a healing place to us.''
The Piestewas used to live in Tuba City, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation. They now live in Flagstaff in a home provided by the ABC program "Extreme Makeover," which was built on land purchased by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians of California.
Get the Story:Family Remembers Iraq War's First Female Casualty (AP 3/20)
