Spc Monica Brown, USA,
Silver Star for Gallantry

Army Spc Monica Brown, a 19-year-old medic from Lake Jackson, Texas, has become the second woman since World War II to receive the Silver Star Medal for Gallantry in combat.

As the medic traveling with a four-vehicle convoy in eastern Afghanistan in April of 2007, she is credited with saving the lives of five wounded soldiers after their Humvee was struck by an IED.

Brown said she really didn't have time to be scared, and was concerned only with getting the wounded soldiers, all of whom she knew, to a safer location. Exploding ammunition inside the burning humvee was sending shrapnel everywhere.

Because of incoming fire from insurgents, they had to move the men some 500 yards, where she began treatment prior to putting them into a helicopter for evacuation. At one point, she shielded them with her own body as mortars exploded less than 100 yards away.

Brown is serving with the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team. According to the Army, her "bravery, unselfish actions and medical aid rendered under fire saved the lives of her comrades and represents the finest traditions of heroism in combat."

In 2005, Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, at age 23, became the first woman to receive the Silver Star since WWII. Two of her fellow soldiers serving with the 617th Military Police Company, a National Guard unit from Richmond, Ky, also received Silver Stars for their actions in the same engagement. The Silver Star awarded to Sgt. Timothy Nein was later upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor.

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