Troops in field memorialize Medal of Honor recipient

ASMAR DISTRICT, Afghanistan, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- As U.S. President Barack Obama prepared Thursday to present the Medal of Honor to the parents of a soldier killed in Afghanistan, troops on an isolated combat operations post in the Hindu Kush mountains paid their own tribute to the sixth service member to be presented with the nation's highest military honor in the war against terrorism.

"Most of us didn't know him personally and most of us will know him only by his (Medal of Honor) citation," Maj. Pete Granger, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, said of Sgt. First Class Jared C. Monti of Massachusetts.

"We honor his memory by continuing to fight for the same things he believed in: his soldiers, his family, his friends and his country."

Monti, then a staff sergeant, was killed in an ambush by Taliban gunmen in neighboring Nuristan province on June 21, 2006, while on an intelligence-gathering mission.

Official records say Monti and his 15-man platoon were pinned down and outnumbered 4-to-1. After directing his men in return fire he called in artillery support and then braved withering enemy fire in repeated attempts to rescue a wounded comrade who had fallen in an exposed position.

Monti, 31, was mortally wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade during his third rescue attempt.

"We listened to everything going on from the base," Staff Sgt. Matthew Wolfanger said Thursday. "I knew it was bad from what they were saying (over the radio), but it didn't really go through my mind that my friends were out there and could actually be hurt. But at the end of it, when they said they had wounded and a KIA (killed in action) … you know … and they gave the roster numbers (of casualties) … "

Wolfanger, a member of Monti's unit -- the 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division -- and on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, made the comment Thursday at Combat Operating Base Monti in Kunar province. The 3-71 had established the base in January 2007 and adhering to tradition named it after their fallen soldier.

On Thursday Wolfanger, flown to the base from another area, was the keynote speaker at a brief ceremony hosted by COP Monti's current tenant, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, which is also part of the 10th Mountain Division.

Noting the Medal of Honor was given for exceptional bravery, Wolfanger said Monti's winning it was no surprise to those who served with him. The medal, he said, was "final confirmation of something that he had been to his soldiers all along -- a hero."

"He brought the best out of us. We wanted to be the best because of him," he said.

The ceremony at COP Monti, on a hill along the Kunar River and surrounded by mountains, was brief -- just 20 minutes. But it was also poignant and stoic in a sense, since those participating are actively engaged in the fight against insurgents and face death daily. The base has been rocketed and mortared more than 20 times since May, officers said, and convoys along the sole supply road are frequently attacked.

To ward off any possible attack during the ceremony, held outdoors and in view of nearby mountain ridges, artillery on the base fired rounds into the mountains for nearly an hour before the memorial began.

The ceremony included a re-dedication of the outpost as Monti's namesake and culminated in the unveiling of a large sign with his name that will hang on the COP's tactical operations center. A second sign was placed on a stone pedestal outside COP Monti's main gate.