Monica Lin Brown

Who is Monica Lin Brown?

Monica Lin Brown is a United States Army medic who became the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second woman since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the United States' third-highest medal for valor.

In April 2007, after a roadside bomb detonated near a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia Province of Afghanistan, Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers by running through insurgent gunfire to reach the wounded and then using her body to shield them while mortar rounds fell nearby. Because women are not formally allowed to participate directly in combat, Brown was pulled back to the base at Khost shortly after the incident.

She was presented with the Silver Star by Vice President Dick Cheney in a ceremony on 21 March 2008.