MEDIC, 2nd Woman to be Awarded Silver Star

The Price of Freedom is Priceless!

A Medic Stationed in Afghanistan Becomes

2nd Woman to be Awarded Silver Star
FOXNEWS.com

Sunday , March 09, 2008

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."

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The VA has set up a 24-hour suicide hotline for

around-the-clock access to mental health professionals.

The number is 1-800-273-TALK.

To learn more about PTSD-- visit the

National Center for PTSD website.

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Private Battle, Part 1

Private Battle, Part 2

Flashback, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide,

and the Lessons of WAR-- by Penny Coleman __and--->

I Can Still Hear Their Cries, Even In My Sleep

...A Journey Into PTSD-- By E. Everett McFall

Both Books are Available on Amazon.com