Monica Lin Brown
Monica Lin Brown, born May 24, 1988, in Lake Jackson, Texas, is a United States Army sergeant and combat medic. She became the first woman to earn the Silver Star in the War in Afghanistan, and only the second woman since World War II to receive the military’s third-highest valor award.
In April 2007, near Jani Khel in eastern Afghanistan, Brown ran through heavy gunfire to reach the wounded after an IED exploded and a convoy came under attack. She treated the casualties and then shielded them with her body as mortars and more fire fell around them. Her actions helped save lives, even as blasts continued nearby.
Because women were not allowed to serve in direct combat at the time, she was withdrawn to base after the incident. Brown joined the Army at 17 and served as a medic with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division (including time with the 73rd Cavalry Regiment).
She received the Silver Star in a ceremony on March 21, 2008, presented by Vice President Dick Cheney. In 2014, the U.S. Army Women’s Foundation inducted her into its Hall of Fame.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 03:27 (CET).