Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Houston Chronicle
June 15, 2008 Spc. Monica Brown says she just did her job in Afghanistan
By Rosanna Ruiz, Houston Chronicle
LAKE JACKSON — The salutes from silver-haired veterans, proclamations, gifts and standing ovations seemed too much for Spc. Monica Brown to absorb.
The 20-year-old Army medic didn't know what to say to the hundreds who attended a ceremony for her Saturday at the city's civic center plaza. They called Brown, the second woman since World War II to receive a Silver Star, their hometown hero.
"I don't expect anything from any of you," she told them, "and it's all too much for me to come home and see all of this stuff and see everyone out here."
Since Vice President Dick Cheney pinned the medal on her uniform in March, Brown has brushed aside any praise for her actions when her convoy was attacked by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan last April.
Brown has said she was just doing her job and that the soldiers she served with that day deserve to be honored, too.
Others, however, said she could have simply taken cover and waited out the attack.
Instead, she grabbed her medic bag and scrambled through a hail of bullets to treat the five wounded soldiers whose Humvee was hit in a bomb blast.
On Saturday, Brown, wearing a burgundy beret and camouflage uniform, thanked those supporting service members still serving in the war, including her brother Justin Brown, who enlisted with her two years ago.
She also thanked the soldiers with her April 25, 2007, when she was part of a four-vehicle convoy, patrolling near the village of Jani Khel when the bomb blast occurred at dusk.
Brown, attached to the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne, managed to get to the injured soldiers, who were thrown or stumbled from the burning vehicle. She hovered over one wounded soldier as mortar rounds landed nearby. The soldiers were removed to safety and survived their wounds.
Brown was removed from the front line shortly afterward.
The move upset Brown, as well as the soldiers she served alongside, her grandmother Katy Brown said.
"She was their medic and they felt safe with her," she said.
Brown's heroism led to questions about the role of women in war. Women in the military are banned from serving in combat units. On the day of last year's attack, Brown was asked to accompany the convoy team because she was the only medic available, according to published accounts.
Brown, who remains on active duty, recently returned to Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
During Saturday's ceremony, Lt. Col. Troy A. Reeves, commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion in Houston, called Brown a soldier who represents "the epitome of our modern Army."
"She joined the Army to pursue a career as a nurse," he said, "and her training as a soldier and a lifesaver came to a head on the battlefield."
Also during the ceremony, Mayor Bob Sipple unveiled a green jogging trail post named after Brown. While growing up in Lake Jackson, Brown frequently jogged along the 1.2 mile trail at Dow Centennial Bottomlands Park, 93 Lake Road.
"She depicts the character of our community," he said. "We all just want to lift Monica up."
June 15, 2008 Spc. Monica Brown says she just did her job in Afghanistan
By Rosanna Ruiz, Houston Chronicle
LAKE JACKSON — The salutes from silver-haired veterans, proclamations, gifts and standing ovations seemed too much for Spc. Monica Brown to absorb.
The 20-year-old Army medic didn't know what to say to the hundreds who attended a ceremony for her Saturday at the city's civic center plaza. They called Brown, the second woman since World War II to receive a Silver Star, their hometown hero.
"I don't expect anything from any of you," she told them, "and it's all too much for me to come home and see all of this stuff and see everyone out here."
Since Vice President Dick Cheney pinned the medal on her uniform in March, Brown has brushed aside any praise for her actions when her convoy was attacked by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan last April.
Brown has said she was just doing her job and that the soldiers she served with that day deserve to be honored, too.
Others, however, said she could have simply taken cover and waited out the attack.
Instead, she grabbed her medic bag and scrambled through a hail of bullets to treat the five wounded soldiers whose Humvee was hit in a bomb blast.
On Saturday, Brown, wearing a burgundy beret and camouflage uniform, thanked those supporting service members still serving in the war, including her brother Justin Brown, who enlisted with her two years ago.
She also thanked the soldiers with her April 25, 2007, when she was part of a four-vehicle convoy, patrolling near the village of Jani Khel when the bomb blast occurred at dusk.
Brown, attached to the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne, managed to get to the injured soldiers, who were thrown or stumbled from the burning vehicle. She hovered over one wounded soldier as mortar rounds landed nearby. The soldiers were removed to safety and survived their wounds.
Brown was removed from the front line shortly afterward.
The move upset Brown, as well as the soldiers she served alongside, her grandmother Katy Brown said.
"She was their medic and they felt safe with her," she said.
Brown's heroism led to questions about the role of women in war. Women in the military are banned from serving in combat units. On the day of last year's attack, Brown was asked to accompany the convoy team because she was the only medic available, according to published accounts.
Brown, who remains on active duty, recently returned to Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
During Saturday's ceremony, Lt. Col. Troy A. Reeves, commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion in Houston, called Brown a soldier who represents "the epitome of our modern Army."
"She joined the Army to pursue a career as a nurse," he said, "and her training as a soldier and a lifesaver came to a head on the battlefield."
Also during the ceremony, Mayor Bob Sipple unveiled a green jogging trail post named after Brown. While growing up in Lake Jackson, Brown frequently jogged along the 1.2 mile trail at Dow Centennial Bottomlands Park, 93 Lake Road.
"She depicts the character of our community," he said. "We all just want to lift Monica up."