Female Army Sergeant Repels Ambush, Kills 3, Becomes First Woman to Earn Silver Star Since WWII
Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester, of Nashville, Tennessee, went from shoe salesperson to national hero, and today, she has the award to prove it.
Sergeant Hester enlisted in the US Army prior to 9-11-2001 and was assigned to National Guard’s Kentucky-based 617th Military Police Company in Baghdad in 2004.
In talking with The Tennessean, she had the following to say;
“It was that one job where you can get out there and get dirty and be in an infantry-type environment. I guess it was one of the more exciting jobs in the military for women when I enlisted, and it still is now.”
One of her assignments was to clear a convoy route of an IEDs. The supply convoy that Hester and her team were charged with supervising was ambushed by gunfire and grenades on the morning of March 20, 2005. Sergeant Hester had to think on her feet. This routine patrol turned into ground combat in a matter of seconds; 45 minutes of intense combat ensued.
She directed her team away from the enemy’s fire, and in doing so, they exposed the ditches the enemy were using as a “safe zone.” She directed her team’s gunner to return fire. Shooting downrange, the gunner targeted over a dozen enemy soldiers who were concealing themselves in a nearby ditch. Hester dismounted her vehicle and threw grenades into the ditch by hand.
According to Military Times, Hester traversed two additional trenches on foot, killing three enemy soldiers with her M4 carbine before a ceasefire was called. The troops identified 27 deceased enemy soldiers, 6 injured, and 1 taken prisoner.
Sergeant Hester was awarded the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration in the U.S. military for valor. Sergeant Hester is the first female in the U.S. Army to receive the award since World War II and the first female to receive the Silver Star for courage in combat.
To quote Helen Reedy;
I am woman. Hear me roar!
Sergeant followed her training and roared against the enemy.