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Woman Gains Silver Star -- And Removal From Combat
Washington Post ^ | May 1, 2008 | Ann Scott Tyson

Posted on 05/01/2008 7:13:39 PM PDT by neverdem

Case Shows Contradictions of Army Rules

KHOST, Afghanistan -- Pfc. Monica Brown cracked open the door of her Humvee outside a remote village in eastern Afghanistan to the pop of bullets shot by Taliban fighters. But instead of taking cover, the 18-year-old medic grabbed her bag and ran through gunfire toward fellow soldiers in a crippled and burning vehicle.

Vice President Cheney pinned Brown, of Lake Jackson, Tex., with a Silver Star in March for repeatedly risking her life on April 25, 2007, to shield and treat her wounded comrades, displaying bravery and grit. She is the second woman since World War II to receive the nation's third-highest combat medal.

Within a few days of her heroic acts, however, the Army pulled Brown out of the remote camp in Paktika province where she was serving with a cavalry unit -- because, her platoon commander said, Army restrictions on women in combat barred her from such missions.

"We weren't supposed to take her out" on missions "but we had to because there was no other medic," said Lt. Martin Robbins, a platoon leader with Charlie Troop, 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, whose men Brown saved. "By regulations you're not supposed to," he said, but Brown "was one of the guys, mixing it up, clearing rooms, doing everything that anybody else was doing."

In Afghanistan as well as Iraq, female soldiers are often tasked to work in all-male combat units -- not only for their skills but also for the culturally sensitive role of providing medical treatment for local women, as well as searching them and otherwise interacting with them. Such war-zone pragmatism is at odds with Army rules intended to bar women from units that engage in direct combat or collocate with combat forces...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; femalesoldiers; iraq; monicabrown
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To: endthematrix

Thanks for the link!


21 posted on 05/01/2008 9:36:02 PM PDT by neverdem (I'm praying for a Divine Intervention.)
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To: neverdem

<...Army restrictions on women in combat barred her from such missions.>

After 9/11 you’d think the military would wake up and realize that we’re ALL in combat zones. No, children shouldn’t be taken up to the front but women, whether in ships or ashore, are considered bona fide military targets by our enemies.


22 posted on 05/01/2008 9:48:16 PM PDT by SatinDoll (Desperately desiring a conservative government.)
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To: neverdem

Better pictures and story here:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49348

23 posted on 05/01/2008 10:21:47 PM PDT by Screaming_Gerbil (How do you know that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a muzzle flash?)
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To: Screaming_Gerbil

Thanks for the pic & link.


24 posted on 05/01/2008 11:08:30 PM PDT by neverdem (I'm praying for a Divine Intervention.)
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To: neverdem

Maybe she can tell her Congressman, Ron Paul all about how to stand up to Islamic terrorists.

A shame that he would have to nominate her to get into West Point. Maybe Sen. Cornyn or Kay Bailey-Hutchenson would get her in instead.


25 posted on 05/01/2008 11:51:56 PM PDT by anymouse
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To: neverdem

This is a great story. Pfc. Monica Brown is a genuine hero.
Thanks for posting.


26 posted on 05/02/2008 12:02:02 AM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Screaming_Gerbil

BTTT


27 posted on 05/02/2008 12:26:51 AM PDT by XR7
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To: csvset

The comparison is sickening to think about, isn’t it? Hillary trying to make herself appear heroic when there are people like Pfc. Brown out there.


28 posted on 05/02/2008 3:01:00 AM PDT by kenth (I have a apolitical blues)
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To: Screaming_Gerbil

Good post! Who says the genders aren’t equal? See the tagline.


29 posted on 05/02/2008 8:14:29 AM PDT by killermedic ("discipline isnÂ’t reserved for times of combat....only tested there.")
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To: doc1019

My late father was a Navy Corpsman in WWII, I’m a Navy Vietnam Vet. We salute you, Soldier !


30 posted on 05/02/2008 8:19:23 AM PDT by junkman_106 (Once is chance, twice is coincidence, thrice is enemy action ---007/Ian Fleming)
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To: neverdem

God bless you soldier.


31 posted on 05/02/2008 8:34:37 AM PDT by Americanexpat
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To: neverdem

Impressive. Great job Texan!!!


32 posted on 05/02/2008 8:50:33 AM PDT by A Texan (Oderint dum metuant)
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To: neverdem

...she’s great and I’m glad she was recognised for conspicous gallantry....it’s good they got her out of there also...you don’t want to risk her getting killed while her Silver Star paperwork is being processed.

....that being said, it’s a sorry reflection on Congress and the Pentagon that they ever permitted sending women off to war...


33 posted on 05/02/2008 8:57:54 AM PDT by STONEWALLS
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To: 21stCenturyFreeThinker

“Sounds like the Washington regulations are out of sync with the reality in the field.”

Not the first time that’s happened! :)


34 posted on 05/02/2008 9:50:15 AM PDT by SFC Chromey (We are at war with Islamofascists inside and outside our borders, now ACT LIKE IT!)
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To: Oorang

Outstanding!


35 posted on 05/02/2008 10:22:13 AM PDT by PsyOp (Truth in itself is rarely sufficient to make men act. - Clauswitz, On War, 1832.)
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To: miliantnutcase

John Kerry did several times, did you know that he went to Vietnam?


36 posted on 05/02/2008 11:46:53 AM PDT by U S Army EOD (Say Cheese.)
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; george76; ...

Coalition Forces Provide Medical Care in Afghan Village
American Forces Press Service
Posted on 05/01/2008 4:35:57 PM PDT by SandRat
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009965/posts


37 posted on 05/02/2008 6:24:57 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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To: U S Army EOD

Yeah, he made she sure we all knew.


38 posted on 05/02/2008 11:26:38 PM PDT by miliantnutcase
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