‘Remember their names’
Honor ride carries Lori Piestewa’s name 23 years later
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
Motorcyclists ride west of Yah-ta-hey, New Mexico, on June 7, 2026, during the 23rd Annual Lori Piestewa Navajo Hopi Honor Ride, a four-day journey that began in Window Rock and honors fallen service members and their families.
TUBA CITY and WINDOW ROCK
They rolled out of Window Rock at first light, more than 50 motorcycles strong, and threaded their way west through the high desert in a single line that stretched along the red road toward the horizon. Behind them, the buttes and spires of the Navajo Nation rose against a cloudless sky as the riders moved in unison, headlamps lit, escort vehicles trailing the formation for miles.
It was the first day of the 23rd Annual Lori Piestewa Navajo Hopi Honor Ride, a four-day journey founder Bobby Martin and a small group of volunteers have carried since 2003 to honor fallen warriors and the gold star families they leave behind.
Spc. Lori Piestewa, Martin’s cousin, was killed in action on March 23, 2003, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was 23 years old. This year marks the 23rd year of the ride.
“Just the number of times that number 23 kept coming up. It’s just very significant. It calls out to you,” Martin said.
Piestewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe, became the first known Native woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military, and the first woman in the armed forces killed in the Iraq War. Her death drew an outpouring from Indian Country and the nation, and Martin said it set in motion something larger than grief.
To read the full article, please see the June 11, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow