Like Captain Nicole Malachowski, Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester got her military honors, in this case a Silver Star, the hard way: she earned it. 

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.

Brava to Sgt. Hester!

Ethel C. Fenig   6 17 05