Friday, July 08 2005 @ 07:56 AM EDT
Contributed by: tomw
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 Native American Times -- A Navajo soldier who died in Iraq is being mourned by his family and other members of the tribe.
 Cpl. Lyle Cambridge was killed in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near the vehicle he was riding in, according to the Associated Press.
The AP also says that Cambridge’s family had been preparing a birthday party for his youngest son when officials shoed up to give them the tragic news.
"That's when it hit me. My heart just went," said Joe Cambridge Sr., Lyle's father.
Cambridge was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment based at Fort Carson, Colo.
Cambridge, who graduated from Aztec High School in 2000, joined the Army in May 2002. He leaves behind a wife, Evonne, and two young sons, 3-year-old Wyatt and 1-year-old Nick.
Joe Cambridge Sr. is a veteran of Desert Storm and one of his other sons also serves in the military.
"I'm really proud of my kids, but what happened here, I don't like," he told The Daily Times of Farmington on Wednesday evening. "Why are we fighting this war? It's not ours."
He said once Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was removed from power, American soldiers should have been withdrawn from the country.
Cambridge's family gathered Wednesday to celebrate the soldier's life in a traditional Navajo way.
His sister, 25-year-old Shauna Dee, told the AP that she would remember her brother as a generous man who loved to make people happy. She recalled him buying her an Easter dress each year for many years and said she will always remember the way he would try to make people smile or laugh.
Following a prayer, Joe Cambridge Sr. stood in the front of the room, flanked by a picture of his son in uniform set on a Navajo blanket. He spoke in Navajo to a crowd of more than 150 family, friends and community members.
Shirley Enoah, a member of Blue Star Mothers of Farmington, translated his words. She said Cambridge described how his son had joined the army to follow in the footsteps of his father and his brother Vernon, a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Army.
During his speech, Joe Cambridge was overcome with emotion. When he began speaking again, he told the crowd he thought he could handle the loss of his son, but it was hard.
While he spoke, the soldier's wife fainted. She was taken to Shiprock Hospital.
Karen Stevens, founder of the Blue Star Mothers of Farmington, said the group supported Lyle Cambridge's parents after finding out about his death.
"That's the neat thing about Blue Star Mothers - we become a family. It's like one of our own sons have fallen," she said. "They're all hard, but this one hits a little closer to home. All I wanted to do all day was to have my son home and hug his neck."
Navajo spokesman George Hardeen said the loss of a soldier is always hard news to receive.
He said residents of the Navajo Nation - which spans parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah - hold ceremonies each week and offer prayers both in traditional ways and in churches across the reservation in honor of their soldiers.
"We have our servicemen always and foremost in our prayers," Hardeen said. "This is the hardest news to receive but we know it's part of war."
Natives serve in the Army at a disproportionately higher rate compared to the rest of the population. One of the most publicized was Lori Piestewa, a Hopi woman killed during an ambush shortly after the war started.
But there have been others.
Pfc. Sheldon Hawk Eagle, 21, died in Iraq on November 15, 2003 when two Black Hawk helicopters crashed. A member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, Hawk Eagle’s Lakota name was Wanbli Ohitika, or Brave Eagle.
Sgt. Lee Duane Todacheene, 29, of Lukachukai, Ariz., was killed during a surprise attack in Iraq on April 5, 2004. Todacheene was the nephew of Navajo Vice President Frank Dayish Jr. He left behind a wife and two young sons.
Pfc. Harry N. Shondee Jr., 19, was killed in Iraq after an explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad. He was a Navajo from the town of Ganado, Arizona.
“He wanted to use the money from the GI Bill to get an education. He didn’t want to rely on his mom and dad for educational expenses,†said aunt Louise Denetso.
Lance Cpl. Quinn A. Keith, 22, was killed in a car bomb attack near Fallujah on September 6, 2004. Keith was a Navajo and belonged to the Towering House clan and then to the Bitter Water clan. Keith, a weapons specialist, joined the Marine Corps fresh out of school in Page, Ariz., where he was active in wrestling, relatives said. |
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