Sgt. Sara Wood, USA of the American Forces Press Service wrote in June of 2005
For the first time since World War II, a woman soldier was awarded the Silver Star Medal today in Iraq.
Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester of the 617th Military Police Company, a National Guard unit out of Richmond, Ky., received the Silver Star, along with two other members of her unit, Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein and Spc. Jason Mike, for their actions during an enemy ambush on their convoy. Other members of the unit also received awards.
Hester's squad was shadowing a supply convoy March 20 when anti-Iraqi fighters ambushed the convoy. The squad moved to the side of the road, flanking the insurgents and cutting off their escape route. Hester led her team through the "kill zone" and into a flanking position, where she assaulted a trench line with grenades and M203 grenade-launcher rounds. She and Nein, her squad leader, then cleared two trenches, at which time she killed three insurgents with her rifle.
When the fight was over, 27 insurgents were dead, six were wounded, and one was captured.
ABC News reported more of the story
"When we first started taking fire, I just looked to the right and saw seven or eight guys shooting back at us — muzzle flashes," said Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester.
"You could hear a lot of booms from the [rocket-propelled grenades]. You could hear bullets hitting metal," said Spc. Jason Mike.
The insurgents came out of a grove of trees and started firing from a roadside canal. When the shooting started, the National Guard members drove their vehicles between the convoy and the insurgents.
"Basically, training kicks in, and you just maneuver and do what you have to do to stay alive," said Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein.
The soldiers continued to take fire as they traveled up the main highway. Squad leader Nein wanted to make a right turn onto another road, but just as the Humvees were turning the corner, one was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Spc. Casey Cooper, 20, was up in the gunner's turret when the vehicle was hit.
"The heat and the concussion knocked me," said Cooper. "I could feel it hit me in the chest and the face, and that was about it. I blacked out after that."
But he quickly rejoined the fight. By that time, the U.S. soldiers were out of their vehicles.
"At first, I shot one guy," Hester said. "I saw him fall."
"I started firing with my M4 [light machine gun] with my left hand and the 249 [machine gun] with my right hand, trying to lay down fire on both sides," said Mike.
"I went through my full magazine and went to reload," said Spc. Ashley Pullen.
As the fighting progressed, insurgents started firing machine guns from a two-story house, wounding three U.S. soldiers.
"I went inside the vehicle and grabbed the anti-tank rocket and took the house out," said Mike.
The Washington Post had this
After insurgents hit the convoy with a barrage of fire from machine guns, AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, Hester "maneuvered her team through the kill zone into a flanking position where she assaulted a trench line with grenades and M203 rounds," according to the Army citation accompanying the Silver Star.
"She then cleared two trenches with her squad leader where she engaged and eliminated three AIF [anti-Iraqi forces] with her M4 rifle. Her actions saved the lives of numerous convoy members," the citation stated.
Hester, a varsity softball and basketball player in high school, joined the Army in 2001 and was assigned to the Kentucky National Guard's 617th Military Police Company, based in Richmond, Ky.
A female driver with the unit, Spec. Ashley J. Pullen of Danville, Ky., also won the Bronze Star for her bravery. Pullen laid down fire to suppress insurgents and then "exposed herself to heavy AIF fires in order to provide medical assistance to her critically injured comrades," saving several lives, her citation said.
Six other soldiers with Hester's unit won awards for defeating the ambush, leaving 27 insurgents dead, six wounded and one captured. They include Hester's squad leader, Staff. Sgt. Timothy F. Nein, who also won the Silver Star.
You can read more about this heroic crew at Blackfive's place
