Monica Brown is a native of Lake Jackson, Texas. In 2005, she joined the Army at age 17. Two years later, she received the Silver Star, our nation’s third-highest medal for gallantry and valor. She was the second female Silver Star recipient since World War II.

On 25 April 2007, Brown was a 19-year-old Army PFC and Combat Medic who deployed to Afghanistan with the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

PFC Brown was part of a four-vehicle convoy patrolling near the isolated town of Jani Kheil in the eastern province of Paktia. Just after dusk, an IED (improvised explosive device) pressure mine was detonated by one of her unit’s Humvees. Brown ran through a barrage of enemy gunfire to reach five wounded soldiers. Once accessing their position, she used her body to shield the wounded against mortar rounds hitting 50-100 meters from their location.

In her words…

“[4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment Troop C] had been out on the mission for a couple of days. We had just turned into a wadi (an empty river bed) when our gunner yelled that the vehicle behind us had hit an IED. I only saw the smoke from the vehicle when suddenly we started taking small-arms fire from all around us. Our gunner started firing back, and my platoon sergeant yelled, ‘Doc! Let’s go.’ 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. We stopped the convoy. I opened up my door and grabbed my aid bag.”

As she and SSG Jose Santos exited their Humvee, knowing all those who were wounded, Brown said, “Running back to their vehicle, I was nervous [as] I did not know how badly the guys were injured. Before I got there, I could tell that two of them were injured very seriously.”

Sprinting toward the flaming vehicle, “There was pretty heavy incoming fire at this point.” As she reached the vehicle, she determined that, indeed, two Soldiers — SPC Stanson Smith and SPC Larry Spray — had suffered life-threatening injuries. SPC Jack Bodani, one of the injured soldiers, said of enemy fire at Brown: “Rounds were literally missing her by inches. We needed to get away from there.”

Not only was she taking enemy fire, but the 60-mm mortar, 5.56-mm ammo, and 40-mm grenade rounds inside the flaming Humvee began burning off. “It sounded like firecrackers at first,” said Brown, but “it got pretty heavy after that.”

Once she determined all five soldiers had gotten 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. Somewhere in the mix, we started taking mortar rounds. It became a huge commotion, but all I could let myself think about were my patients. So we dragged them for 100 or 200 meters, got them away from the Humvee a little bit. I was in a kind of a robot mode [and] did not think about much but getting the guys taken care of. I did not really have time to be scared.”

SPC Spray was badly burned, and Brown determined: “I didn’t have enough gauze in my aid bag to wrap up as many burns as he had, that’s how bad it was.”

In retrospect, Brown said: “It was just a blur of noise and movement. ‘What just happened? Did I do everything right?’ It was a hard thing to think about.” Then: “I realized that everything I had done during the attack was just rote memory. Kudos to my chain of command for that. I know with training like I was given. Any medic would have done the same in my position.”

Bodani recalled, “To say she handled herself well would be an understatement. It was amazing to see her keep completely calm and take care of our guys with all that going on around her. Of all the medics we’ve had with us throughout the year, she was the one I trusted the most.”

For her part in joining the Army to become a Medic, Brown said: “I never expected them to carry my bags. I can carry my own weight. I expected to be treated like one of the guys. So, that’s how I got treated.”

Brown’s Silver Star citation concludes: “Specialist Brown’s heroic actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service, reflecting great credit upon herself, the 82d Airborne Division, and the United States Army.”

At that time, women were prohibited from serving in combat roles, including infantry, armor, and artillery. The Pentagon lifted its combat exclusion policy for women in 2012. However, in Afghanistan and Iraq, the lines of battle were never fixed and constantly on the move, so there was no clear combat front.

In 2014, the U.S. Army Women’s Foundation inducted Brown into their Hall of Fame.

SGT Monica Brown: Your example of valor — a humble American Patriot defending Liberty for all above and beyond the call of duty and in disregard for the peril to your own life — is eternal.

“Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Live your life worthy of her sacrifice.

(1SG Leigh Ann Hester, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, was the first female Silver Star recipient since World War II. She is the first woman ever cited for valor in close-quarters combat for her actions in March 2005, responding to an ambush on a convoy in Iraq. Hester was Team Leader for RAVEN 42B in the 617th Military Police Company, 503d Military Police Battalion (Airborne), 18th Military Police Brigade. Her profile will follow.)

(Read more Profiles of Valor here.)

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776

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