Monica Lin Brown is a United States Army medic who became the second woman since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the United States’ third-highest medal for valour.
Brown was awarded the medal for her actions in Afghanistan in April 2007 where her convoy was hit by a roadside bomb. Brown braved heavy gunfire to drag soldiers to safety from a burning Humvee and used her body to shield the wounded while mortar rounds fell nearby. Her sergeant who was providing covering fire said that he saw enemy bullets “literally missing her by inches”.
Five US soldiers owe their lives to her actions.