Immediately after patching up comrades who were wounded during a fierce fight in Afghanistan’s Paktika province on April 25, 2007, Army Spc. Monica Brown could not focus on what she had accomplished. "Looking back, it was just a blur of noise and movement," said Brown, 19, of Lake Jackson, Texas. "What just happened? Did I do everything right?" Actually, she had done quite a lot. Her quick response in the wake of an improvised explosive device (IED) detonation and subsequent enemy attack, two seriously wounded soldiers – Spc. Stanson Smith and Spc. Larry Spray — survived. Because of her actions the combat medic from the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, became the first woman since World War II to earn the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in combat. Vice President Dick Cheney presented her with the award in a March 20 ceremony at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.