In February 2012, the Pentagon lifted its combat exclusion policy, which had prevented women from serving many front line positions in the Armed Forces. But specialist Monica Lin Brown, an Army medic and the second female soldier to receive the Silver Star since World War II, already knew what it was like to face enemy fire up close.
Given her role as an Army Health Care Specialist, Brown’s job wasn’t to engage enemies in combat, but when duty called, she found herself in the thick of battle, and she acted bravely. Shortly after her deployment, at the age of 19, the female soldier’s platoon, part of the 82nd Airborne Division, was ambushed in Afghanistan.
