Photo By Erin Thompson | S. Sgt. Jared Monti (front right), May 2001.... read more read more
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by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian
20 JUNE 2006
On 20 June 2006, a patrol from the 3d Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, led by S. Sgt. Jared C. Monti, arrived on Mountain 2610 in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, to collect intelligence ahead of Operation GOWARDESH THRUST. Sergeant Monti’s heroic actions in the ensuing firefight made him the first Medal of Honor recipient for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF).
Jared Christopher Monti was born on 20 September 1975 in Abington, Massachusetts. He joined the Army in 1993 and trained at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, before joining the 82d Airborne Division. He deployed to Kosovo in 1999 with Operation JOINT GUARDIAN, where he received a Purple Heart for injuries during a flight jump. Between 1999–2006, Monti also received a Bronze Star and five Army Commendation Medals for various actions during his deployments. In February 2006, Monti deployed to Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division as part of Task Force Spartan. His primary job as a forward observer was to collect intelligence on enemy positions for combat operations, though his personality made him well-liked by the local population, and he was often called into official negotiations to ease tensions.
On 17 June 2006, Sergeant Monti and S. Sgt. Christopher Cunningham led a sixteen-man patrol of snipers, forward observers, and scouts into Nuristan Province located on Afghanistan’s northeast border with Pakistan. Operation GOWARDESH THRUST intended to disrupt enemy operations near the Gowardesh Bridge, and Monti and Cunningham’s patrol would perform reconnaissance before the squadron moved into the valley. After a three-day climb, the group set up operations on a small overlook on Mountain 2610.
On 20 June 2006, at approximately 6:45 p.m., the team was suddenly bombarded by rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), machine gun and small arms fire. Members of the team, who were spread out in pairs across the mountain, were cut off from one another and, due to the proximity of the enemy, were unable to properly aim and return fire. It was only once Sergeant Monti threw an inert grenade that they were given enough space to regroup. The casualties included one killed— S. Sgt. Patrick Lybert—and one missing. Pfc. Brian J. Bradbury, a SAW gunner, had been shot while attempting to take cover and lay critically wounded in a shallow dip in the rocks, about twenty meters from his team and thirty meters from the enemy hidden in the nearby tree line. Several hours had passed by then, and it was now 21 June 2006.
From Monti’s position, he was unable to safely raise his head to assess the enemy or Bradbury’s position. He tried twice to move beyond his protective covering, receiving immediate enemy fire both times. On the third try, with his team providing covering fire, Monti lunged for Bradbury. Before he reached him, Monti was hit by an RPG and mortally wounded. His death rallied his team enough to continue firing until the arrival of air support, which Monti had called in earlier. Sergeant Monti was thirty years old.
In total, four soldiers died on Mountain 2610, including Private Bradbury and medic S. Sgt. Heathe Craig, who fell to their deaths when the helicopter winch failed during the medevac the next morning. Monti was posthumously promoted to sergeant first class on 22 June 2006 and was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2009 for his sacrifice, becoming the first Medal of Honor recipient for actions during OEF. At the award ceremony, President Barak Obama said: “Compassion. Perseverance. Strength. A love for his fellow soldiers. Those are the values that defined Jared Monti's life—and the values he displayed in the actions that we recognize here today.”
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| Date Taken: | 06.20.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 06.20.2023 11:04 |
| Story ID: | 447527 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 424 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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