The family of Spc. Lori Piestewa, the first woman killed in the war in Iraq, is getting a new home courtesy of a reality television show.
Piestewa’s parents and two children, ages 5 and 6, live in a trailer home in the Navajo community of Tuba City, but ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” will build them a new home in Flagstaff.
The show usually tears down the existing home and builds something in its place, but the Piestewas don’t own the trailer they live in now and told producers they wanted to move to Flagstaff, said Eric Snider, vice president of sales and marketing for Shea Homes, which is sponsoring the building effort.
Crews will begin excavating the site Thursday; the Piestewa episode is scheduled to air as the season finale May 22.
Lori Piestewa died on March 23, 2003, when her convoy was ambushed in Iraq. Several other members of her unit, including Spc. Jessica Lynch, were held as prisoners of war.
Piestewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe, is believed to be the first American Indian woman killed while fighting for the U.S. military.