Sgt Grit Marine Forums

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/30/AR2008043003415.html

Well from what I read when it happened, her pack(Could have been medical kit) took rounds and shrapenel.  She was very lucky to not have been hit.  From what I read earlier yes she does Deserve it.  Wish I could find that Article.

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Is this the article Gy? Face of Defense: Woman Soldier Receives Silver Star By Spc. Micah E. Clare, USA Special to American Forces Press Service BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, March 24, 2008 – Heroes are made, not born. And a hero like Army Spc. Monica Brown, 19, is no different. Army Spc. Monica Brown, a medic from the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, stands over Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khowst province, Afghanistan. Brown is the second woman since World War II to earn a Silver Star for gallantry in combat. (Photo by Spc. Micah E. Clare, USA   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Brown, recognized for her gallant actions during combat in Afghanistan in 2007, is the second woman soldier since World War II to receive a Silver Star, the third highest award given for valor in enemy action. She received the medal from Vice President Richard B. Cheney during a ceremony here March 20. It was dusk on April 25, 2007, when Brown, a medic from the 82nd Airborne Division’s 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, was on a routine security patrol along the rolling, rocky plains of the isolated Jani Khail district in Afghanistan’s Paktika province when insurgents attacked her convoy. “We’d been out on the mission for a couple of days,” said Brown, who at the time was attached to the brigade’s 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment’s Troop C. “We had just turned into a wadi (empty river bed) when our gunner yelled at us that the vehicle behind us had hit an (improvised explosive device).” The soldiers looked out of their windows in time to see one of the struck vehicle’s tires flying through the field next to them. Brown had just opened her door to see what was going on when the attack began. “I only saw the smoke from the vehicle when suddenly we started taking small-arms fire from all around us,” she said. “Our gunner starting firing back, and my platoon sergeant yelled, ‘Doc! Let’s go.’” Brown and her platoon sergeant, Staff Sgt. Jose Santos, exited their vehicle, and while under fire, ran the few hundred meters to the site of the downed Humvee. “Everyone was already out of the burning vehicle,” she said. “But even before I got there, I could tell that two of them were injured very seriously.” In fact, all five of the passengers who had stumbled out were burned and cut. Two soldiers, Spcs. Stanson Smith and Larry Spray, suffered life-threatening injuries. With help from two less-injured vehicle crewmen, Sgt. Zachary Tellier and Spc. Jack Bodani, Brown moved the immobile soldiers to a relatively safe distance from the burning Humvee. “There was pretty heavy incoming fire at this point,” she said. “Rounds were literally missing her by inches,” said Bodani, who provided suppressive fire as Brown aided the casualties while injured. “We needed to get away from there.” Attempting to provide proper medical care under the heavy fire became impossible, especially when the attackers stepped up efforts to kill the soldiers. “Another vehicle had just maneuvered to our position to shield us from the rounds now exploding in the fire from the Humvee behind us,” Brown said. “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.” With the other vehicles spread out in a crescent formation, Brown and her casualties were stuck with nowhere to go. Suddenly, Santos arrived with one of the unit’s vehicles and backed it up to their position, and Brown began loading the wounded soldiers inside. “We took off to a more secure location several hundred meters away, where we were able to call in the (medical evacuation mission),” Brown said. She then directed other combat-life-saver-qualified soldiers to help by holding intravenous bags and assisting her in preparing the casualties for evacuation. After what seemed like an eternity, Brown said, the attackers finally began retreating, and she was able to perform more thorough aid procedures before the helicopter finally arrived to transport the casualties to safety. Two hours after the initial attack, everything was over. In the darkness, Brown recalled standing in a field, knee-deep in grass, her only source of light coming from her red head-light, trying to piece together the events that had just taken place. “Looking back, it was just a blur of noise and movement,” the Lake Jackson, Texas, native said. “What just happened? Did I do everything right? It was a hard thing to think about.” Before joining the Army at the age of 17, the bright-eyed young woman said she never pictured herself being in a situation like this. Originally wanting to be an X-ray technician, she changed her mind when she realized that by becoming a medic, she’d be in the best place to help people. “At first, I didn’t think I could do it,” she said. “I was actually afraid of blood. When I saw my first airway-opening operation, I threw up.” She quickly adjusted to her job and received additional training both before and during her deployment to Afghanistan. “I realized that everything I had done during the attack was just rote memory,” she said. “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.” “To say she handled herself well would be an understatement,” said Bodani, who quickly recovered from his injuries and immediately returned to work. “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.” Earning trust with a combat unit is not something easily earned, said Army Capt. Todd Book, Troop C’s commander at the time of the attack, but it was something Brown had taken upon herself to prove long before the Jani Khail ambush. “Our regular medic was on leave at the time,” Book said. “We had other medics to choose from, but Brown had shown us that she was more technically proficient than any of her peers.” Having people call her “Doc” means a lot to Brown because of the trust it engenders. “When people I’ve treated come back to me later and tell me the difference I was able to make in their life is the best part of this job,” she said. During her rest and recuperation leave in May, Brown visited Spray in the hospital and met his mother. “I almost cried,” Brown said. “Spray’s mother was so thankful, and she hugged me. That was the moment that made me feel the best about what I did.” Even though she felt proud when she was informed that she was going to receive a Silver Star, she considers her actions to be the result of effort put into her by everyone she’s worked for. “While I’m not scared to get my hands dirty, I have to say that I never fully became a medic until I came over here and did it first-hand,” she said. “I just reacted when the time came.” Due to her quick and selfless actions, both Smith and Spray survived their injuries. (Army Spc. Micah E. Clare serves with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office.)

Related Sites: Silver Star Related Articles: Cheney Thanks U.S. Troops Serving in Afghanistan

Army Spc. Monica Brown, a medic from 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, is the second woman since World War II to earn a Silver Star award for gallantry in combat. Photo by Spc. Micah E. Clare, USA   Download screen-resolution    Download high-resolution Army Spc. Monica Brown, a medic from 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, stands in the hallway of the Forward Operating Base Salerno hospital in Afghanistan. Brown is the second woman since World War II to earn a Silver Star award for gallantry in combat. Photo by Spc. Micah E. Clare, USA   Download screen-resolution    Download high-resolution Army Spc. Monica Brown, a medic from 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, takes another soldier's blood pressure reading at the hospital on Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan. Brown is the second woman since World War II to be awarded a Silver Star for gallantry in combat. Photo by Spc. Micah E. Clare, USA   Download screen-resolution    Download high-resolution Army Spc. Monica Brown, a medic from 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, takes an Afghan boy's blood at the hospital in Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan. Brown is the second woman since World War II to be awarded a Silver Star for gallantry in combat. Photo by Spc. Micah E. Clare, USA   Download screen-resolution    Download high-resolution

 

She earned it.  However, the Army and Corps are pushing the envelope on the legal prohibition of putting women into combat positions.  Either Congress will change its law, which I think would be a mistake, or these services might get a rude awakening.

My favorite - non-favorite subject.  I watched a short video last night and loved the attitude of her OIC.  He said, "hey we needed to go to the field, and we needed a medic to go with.  He didnt say a man, he didnt say a woman, he said a medic".   

To me, there is no doubt she deserves that Honor.  But, I do not agree that Women belong in combart zones as combatants. 

I agree with JoJo.

To date I believe there are 3 women, who have been awarded the Silver Star, all Army.

I don't get it. Did I miss something? I'm reading about a combat medic doing her job under fire. That's what combat medics and corpsmen do. So it was intense fire...what difference does that make? I don't understand what in this story is above and beyond the call of duty...She's not wounded herself. Sounds to me--based on just what I've read--she's doing exactly what she's supposed to do. My point is, if you deserve a Silver Star for this, then every medic and corpsman who treats wounded under fire deserves one too. "Rounds were literally missing her by inches..." So what? Welcome to the sh*t. Rounds either miss or they hit.

A Bronze maybe, but I don't know. My corpsman in VN did his job under fire many times...all he got was a CAR.

On the nailhead, Al...  'fraid the Army is hitting the PR side of life pretty hard to get recruitment numbers up.

Jessica Lynch - Bronze Star for accidentilally  getting in the $hit and having a weapon too dirty to fire ??

Viva women's lib.

Not to take away from a couple of gals who have really distinguished themselves.

 

Well, Jessica was awarded the 1st Silver Star.

And a Woman Army MP and Medic received the other 2.

Big Al:

I don't get it. Did I miss something? I'm reading about a combat medic doing her job under fire. That's what combat medics and corpsmen do. So it was intense fire...what difference does that make? I don't understand what in this story is above and beyond the call of duty...She's not wounded herself. Sounds to me--based on just what I've read--she's doing exactly what she's supposed to do. My point is, if you deserve a Silver Star for this, then every medic and corpsman who treats wounded under fire deserves one too. "Rounds were literally missing her by inches..." So what? Welcome to the sh*t. Rounds either miss or they hit.

A Bronze maybe, but I don't know. My corpsman in VN did his job under fire many times...all he got was a CAR.

Al, I think we're spoiled by the treatment the Corpsmen give to the Corps's fighters.  My father-in-law was a water cooled machine gunner in the big one of '41-'45.  He tells of a day his company was in the attack and found out they were in a mine field by having a couple of soldiers tep on some at the same time.  THe call cam down the line for a medic and the soldier directly in front of my f-i-l turned and passed the word and that sob WAS a medic.   I think the Sailors get as crazy brave as some of the Marines they serve with and the Army is the Army.

Womens Lib ?  I believe a person that was trained and qualified did their job, was in a combat situation and demonstrated actions that rated a silver star and was awarded it.  It doesnt have to do with ovaries or testicles.

 

Maybe I should have stuck with "political correctness," because the other term isn't really applicable...  I just also thinking about J. Lynch, who, to her credit, said she didn't deserve her award, and mentioned that the males involved in the Motor-T snafu weren't similarly "recognized."

Duty has nothing to do with hormones, but Al's observations about "what medics/corpsmen do" as a matter of course was spot on.

( - 1 m) 

 

I "Don,t" want one in "My" fighting hole eather Slugdog........................... 

Wm. R Miller Jr.:

Well, Jessica was awarded the 1st Silver Star.

And a Woman Army MP and Medic received the other 2.

 

Wm, I am pretty sure Lynch received only the Bronze Star for meritorious service (no V device). 

There are two Corpsman I know that should be wearing the Silver Star but were awarded something much less. I just wish it were a clear line and everyone would be considered the same for awards.

In a war of insurgency there are no front lines...they are totally blurred.  If we insist on sending women into combat zones then they are going to inevitbly be facing the fight some where at some time. 

Personally I am proud of this young lady even though her actions may not have gotten a Marine grunt / navy corpsman a Silver Star from the USMC.

 

Jessica Lynch got a Bronze Star for getting captured, not trying to escape as per her oath, dropping her weapon and refusing to fight, and for lying about all of it.

 

She is such an inspiration to me.

Personally, I don't have a problem--per say-- with women in combat. They fly attack helos, F-18's, they fly combat missions, they take incoming. They are doing terrific. But the physical demands of the infantry may not be the place for them...however, I can see perhaps a unit of light infantry composed entirely of women...well-trained, appropriately equipped and supported...kicking any kind of ass like the types we have been fighting since Vietnam. (And no PMS jokes. )

Can you imagine how these radical Muslim sh*theads would feel if they got their asses handed to them by a bunch of women? And how their brother IslamoNazis would look upon them? It would be like twisting the bayonet.  

if a female can keep up with the physical standards and conditioning of a male infantryman, by all means let them join. No exceptions, no making things easy for them. hold them to the same standards. so basically you will have 3 females in the infantry unit. I have met some very tough female Marines but in no way are the physically compared to the majority of males.

Here we go!!!  Politics, Religion and Women in Combat are supposed to be the "forbidden" subjects here.

With that said,  combat has a strange effect on most humans.  The adrenelin rush is pretty intense.  The fact that you are facing death at any moment is also a rush (good, bad or indifferent).  Combining sexes in the same fighting holes would probaly cause the birth rate to go through the roof.  It could also pose some "possession" problems that no one would reallly want to have to deal with.

Another matter of fact in my pea brain is that men are bred to protect women. It is in our genes.  If a male was in a firefight and the person at his side was female but there was a situation where she was in distress, he may stop what he is doing to protect her...jepordising both of them.

 

 I have NEVER come across a Female Marine that has asked for or expected special treatment.  It all comes down to leadership. Argue that.