Women in Service: Army Sgt. Monica Lin Brown

For the next installment of our Women in Service series, American Veteran has chosen to highlight Army Sgt. Monica Lin Brown, who earned the Silver Star while serving in Afghanistan in 2007.

Brown, an Army medic from Lake Jackson, Texas, was in a convoy with the 4/82nd Airborne Division in the Paktia province of Afghanistan, when one of their Humvees was hit with a roadside bomb. Brown and her team were now stuck in the kill zone.

With small arms fire and mortar rounds raining down, Brown grabbed her medic bag and sprinted for the disabled vehicle. Five of Brown's fellow soldiers were strewn across the road near the Humvee, which was now engulfed in flames.

Rounds started to cook off inside the truck, forcing Brown to move the soldiers, if she had any intention of treating them. One-by-one, Brown pulled the troops to safety about 500 meters away from their burning Humvee, all the while using her own body to shield them from errant rounds and shrapnel from the falling mortars.

Thanks to her decisive action, Brown saved the lives of all five soldiers, who were quickly medivaced from the location. For her courageous and selfless acts under fire, Brown was awarded the Silver Star by Vice President Dick Cheney in March 2008.


(Photos, Top: Then-Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown receives the Silver Star from Vice President Dick Cheney during an awards ceremony in 2008. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Scott Davis, released. Bottom: Brown draws blood from a boy while nearing the end of her deployment to Afghanistan in 2008. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Micah E. Clare, released.)