Monday, March 10, 2008

Texas Teen Hero


Lake Jackson teen awarded Silver Star for gallantry in Afghanistan

CAMP SALERNO, Afghanistan (AP) — 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.

''She just did what she was trained to do," her 74-year-old grandmother, Katy Brown, said from her Lake Jackson home on Sunday.
She said she is not surprised by her granddaughter's heroics.
''She's just a strong, strong young woman, and she's very caring," Katy Brown said.
Monica Brown told her grandmother she didn't have time to be scared.

The military said Brown's "bravery, unselfish actions and medical aid rendered under fire saved the lives of her comrades and represents the finest traditions of heroism in combat."

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Makes me proud to have a woman like this serving in our military. And she is just one of the many teens serving our country from every State in the Union.

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