For those in need of a hero... I think she would qualify [Archive]

DaJudge

March 11th, 2008, 11:22 AM

I saw that a few days ago on military.com. For those too lazy to click the link:

http://www.foxnews.com/images/headers/fnc_logo05.gif (http://www.foxnews.com/index.html)
Medic Stationed in Afghanistan Becomes 2nd Woman to Be
Awarded Silver Star

Sunday , March 09, 2008
http://www.foxnews.com/images/service_ap_36.gif

CAMP SALERNO, Afghanistan ?

A 19-year-old medic from Texas will become the first woman in Afghanistan
and only the second female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver
Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor.

Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a
roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia
province in April 2007, the military said.

After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran
through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as
mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said.

"I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer
location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there,"
Brown told The Associated Press on Saturday at a U.S. base in the eastern
province of Khost.

Brown, of Lake Jackson, Texas, is scheduled to receive the Silver Star later
this month. She was part of a four-vehicle convoy patrolling near Jani Kheil
in the eastern province of Paktia on April 25, 2007, when a bomb struck one
of the Humvees.

"We stopped the convoy. I opened up my door and grabbed my aid bag,"
Brown said.

She started running toward the burning vehicle as insurgents opened fire.
All five wounded soldiers had scrambled out.

"I assessed the patients to see how bad they were. We tried to move them
to a safer location because we were still receiving incoming fire," Brown
said.

Pentagon policy prohibits women from serving in front-line combat roles ?
in the infantry, armor or artillery, for example. But the nature of the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq, with no real front lines, has seen women soldiers take
part in close-quarters combat more than previous conflicts.

Four Army nurses in World War II were the first women to receive the Silver
Star, though three nurses serving in World War I were awarded the medal
posthumously last year, according to the Army's Web site.

Brown, of the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat
Team, said ammunition going off inside the burning Humvee was sending
shrapnel in all directions. She said they were sitting in a dangerous spot.

"So we dragged them for 100 or 200 meters, got them away from the
Humvee a little bit," she said. "I was in a kind of a robot-mode, did not think
about much but getting the guys taken care of."

For Brown, who knew all five wounded soldiers, it became a race to get
them all to a safer location. Eventually, they moved the wounded some 500
yards away and treated them on site before putting them on a helicopter
for evacuation.

"I did not really have time to be scared," Brown said. "Running back to the
vehicle, I was nervous (since) I did not know how badly the guys were
injured. That was scary."

The military said Brown's "bravery, unselfish actions and medical aid
rendered under fire saved the lives of her comrades and represents the
finest traditions of heroism in combat."

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, of Nashville, Tenn., received the Silver Star in 2005
for gallantry during an insurgent ambush on a convoy in Iraq. Two men from
her unit, the 617th Military Police Company of Richmond, Ky., also received
the Silver Star for their roles in the same action.