Sgt. Jared C. Monti of Raynham MA to receive Medal of Honor posthumously

He could not leave a comrade behind
Sgt. Jared C. Monti of Raynham, who braved fatal fire in Afghanistan, will receive the nation’s highest honor

By Bryan Bender
Globe Staff

The sound of feet shuffling in the woods, high on a ridge in remote Afghanistan, was the only warning that Sergeant Jared C. Monti and the 15 men under his command were about to be attacked. Before they could even react, they were bombarded with rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun fire.

The ambush by mountain tribesmen allied with the Taliban came so suddenly and with such ferocity that some members of Monti’s unit “had their weapons literally shot out of their hands,’’ according to an Army report.

Monti, a 30-year-old staff sergeant from Raynham, shouted orders and radioed for support as he found cover behind some large rocks. An officer a few miles away asked whether he could pinpoint the enemy’s position.

“Sir, I can’t give you a better read or I’m gonna eat an RPG,’’ Monti replied.

But later, when one of his men was wounded and lying in the open, Monti braved intense fire to try to rescue him - not once, but three times. It cost him his life.

Three years later, after an Army review of Monti’s actions that day, President Obama will award him the Medal of Honor, the highest recognition for valor in the US military. When Monti’s parents, Paul and Janet, accept the award in a White House ceremony on Sept. 17, it will be only the sixth time the Medal of Honor has been awarded since Sept. 11, 2001, and the first time someone from Massachusetts has earned it since the Vietnam War.




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He could not leave a comrade behind