Jared C Monti
Jared C Monti was born on the 20th of September, 1975, in Abington, Massachusetts, and grew up in Raychem. He graduated from Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School and had enlisted in the US Army in March of 1993. He attended basic and forward observer training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and went on to paratrooper training with the 82nd Airborne Division. He deployed to Kosovo and suffered some injuries while skydiving. Jared rejected a medical discharge and reenlisted so that he could deploy with his unit to Afghanistan as a part of Task Force Spartan in February of 2006. On the 21st of June, 2006, Jared was the assistant leader of a 16 man patrol and the leader of a weapons forward observer team. They were to gather intelligence in the Nuristan Province in Northeastern Afghanistan. The team had established a small base on a ridge in support of a larger Army operation in the valley. This larger operation became delayed and Jared’s team ran low on supplies and so a helicopter brought them supplies. This, however, would reveal their position to the enemy. The evening of the 21st would be Jared’s last and earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sergeant First Class Monti distinguished himself at the cost of his life while serving as a team leader with the Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3d Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan on 21 June 2006. On that day, Sergeant First Class Monti was leading a mission to gather intelligence and to direct fires against the enemy in support of a squadron-size interdiction mission. While at an observation position on top of a mountain ridge, Sergeant First Class Monti’s sixteen-man patrol came under attack by a superior force consisting of as many as 50 enemy fighters. On the verge of being overrun, Sergeant First Class Monti directed his patrol to set up a hasty defensive position behind a collection of rocks. He then began to call for indirect fire from a nearby support base; accurately bringing the rounds upon the enemy who had closed to within 50 meters of his position. While still calling for fire, Sergeant First Class Monti personally engaged the enemy with his rifle and a grenade, successfully disrupting an attempt to flank the patrol. Sergeant First Class Monti then realized that one of his Soldiers was lying wounded and exposed in the open ground between the advancing enemy and the patrol’s position. With complete disregard for his own safety, Sergeant First Class Monti moved from behind the cover of the rocks into the face of withering enemy fire. After closing within meters of his wounded Soldier, the heavy volume of fire forced Sergeant First Class Monti to seek cover. Sergeant First Class Monti then gathered himself and rose again to maneuver through a barrage of enemy fire to save his wounded Soldier. Again, Sergeant First Class Monti was driven back by relentless enemy fire. Unwilling to leave his Soldier wounded and exposed, Sergeant First Class Monti made another attempt to move across open terrain and through the enemy fire to the aide of his wounded Soldier. On his third attempt, Sergeant First Class Monti was mortally wounded, sacrificing his own life in an effort to save his Soldier. Sergeant First Class Monti’s acts of heroism inspired the patrol to fight off the larger enemy force. Sergeant First Class Monti’s immeasurable courage and uncommon valor were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, 3d Squadron 71st Cavalry Regiment, the 3d Brigade Combat Team, the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), and the United States Army.
Jared’s parents, Paul and Janet, received his Medal of Honor from President Obama on the 17th of September, 2009 in a ceremony at the White House and was the second recipient from the conflict in Afghanistan. Jared C Monti is buried in Section 11, Site 38 of the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, Massachusetts.
