I Drive Your Truck

Jared C. Monti

Born: 20 September 1975 in Abington, Massachusetts Served: 1993 - 2006 Rank: Sergeant First Class Unit: 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Team, 10th Mountain Division Branch: U.S. Army

A native son of Massachusetts, Jared C. Monti was an active, enduring persona. As a teenager he competed in Iron Man triathlons and weightlifting competitions, earning himself a weightlifting championship. But his dream was always to join the military. After he graduated from Bridgewater-Raynham High School in 1994, he enlisted in the Army and was assigned to the famed 10th Mountain Division.

SFC Monti was part of Task Force Spartan in Gowardesh, Afghanistan. Under the command of Sergeant Lybert, Monti’s 16 man unit was tasked with providing intel to Americans in the valley below. As the leader of the artillery team, or forward observers, Monti was second in command. The unit positioned itself on the southern end of a ridgeline 2600 meters above the valley, an isolated position with a superb command of the surrounding area. With steep slopes in front of them and on their flanks, the unit’s only fall-back position was the woods to the north.

Their patrol encountered difficulties when the operation they were supporting was delayed. With dwindling supplies and still days to go until the main operation was launched, Lybert was forced to call in a resupply chopper despite the risk of compromising the patrol’s location.

As daylight waned on June 21, 2006, the unit was hit hard from the wooded area to their north. The enemy had determined the American platoon’s position after it was resupplied by helicopter that afternoon. Hopelessly outnumbered four to one, Monti’s team was blindsided by an ambush in a terrain with little cover.

Immediate casualties were sustained. Monti responded with alacrity, calling in enemy positions for air and artillery support and assuming command after the CO Lybert was killed. Most of the patrol had been able to find cover behind rocks on the southern end of the precipice, with the valley at their backs, but one man lay wounded in the open. After giving the final coordinates to HQ, Monti handed his headset to a soldier and told him that he was now chaos three-five, Monti’s call sign. Always the natural leader, Monti was determined to rescue PFC Bradbury, the soldier stranded in no-man’s-land. Once, twice, three times did Monti rush the open ground under blistering enemy fire, only to be driven back. After being forced back twice, he came within yards of his goal on his third attempt. Just as the artillery and air support he had called in earlier began to rain on the enemy positions, Monti was mortally wounded.

Because of SFC Monti’s firm leadership and quick reaction, the unit resisted being overrun. The example he set reinvigorated his men to fight on, and PFC Bradbury survived the battle. However, Bradbury tragically died afterwards with the medic who was treating him as they were raised into the medevac. The steel harness carrying them snapped; both men fell to their death.

With his parents in attendance at the White House to receive his Medal of Honor posthumously, Jared Monti became only the sixth American to receive our nation's highest military honor since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began. Today, SFC Monti is remembered by family and friends through the Jared C. Monti Memorial Scholarship Fund, which provides grants for local students near his hometown in Massachusetts. To learn more about SFC Jared C. Monti, read his official Medal of Honor citation here.