[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 28, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2037-E2038]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       JARED MONTI: AMERICAN HERO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 28, 2009

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, one of the saddest and 
most important parts of our job is to attend funerals for the 
extraordinary young men and women of our districts who have lost their 
lives in the service of our country. A few years ago I attended such a 
funeral in the town of Raynham, Massachusetts, where I heard about a 
particularly impressive young man, Sgt. Jared C. Monti--of the U.S. 
Army, who died in Afghanistan in a valiant effort to save his comrades. 
I was struck then by the impact this young man had had on virtually 
everyone who knew him, and the magnitude of our loss as a community was 
clear. Last week we learned that he has been awarded the Medal of Honor 
for the bravery of this effort to save others.
  Madam Speaker, to his family and others who loved and were warmed by 
this young man, the conferring of this award is, as his father said, 
``very, very bittersweet.'' They relive now the pain they felt when 
they learned of his death, but they now have the knowledge that I hope 
will be comforting at some level at some point that the rest of the 
world now knows what a wonderful man he was, and the pride they felt in 
his accomplishments now become a matter in which our whole country 
takes pride.
  Madam Speaker, to the family and friends of Jared Monti, I again 
extend my deepest condolences, and to his memory I extend the salute 
that is the least we as a grateful nation can do for a young man who 
quite literally gave his life in defense of others, and I ask that the 
article about Sgt. Monti from the Taunton Daily Gazette be printed 
here, so that his example can be widely understood and appreciated.

            [From the Taunton Daily Gazette, July 27, 2009]

     Department of Defense Report Details Raynham Soldier's Heroism

                         (By Jessica Scarpati)

       Raynham--On Sept. 17, President Barack Obama will present 
     Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti's parents, Paul and Janet, 
     with the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award. 
     Only five Medals of Honor have been bestowed, all 
     posthumously, for service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
       The final act of courage by the Raynham man is retold 
     through a Department of Defense report and interviews with 
     his family:
       Evening fell, but the desert sun had cooked the earth Army 
     Staff Sgt. Jared C. Monti traipsed with his soldiers and 
     their 70-pound packs.
       Even at dusk, the air still boiled in the northeastern 
     mountains of Afghanistan and sweat streamed down Monti's 
     muscular 5-foot-5 frame.
       They were out of water. They radioed for more.
       North of where he stood on the plateau, Monti, 30, could 
     see the enemy compound he and the 15 other soldiers in his 
     group were sent to scout out June 21, 2006.
       In his 12-year military career, the Raynham soldier had 
     been lauded by superiors in his military records for his 
     ``endless potential'' and ``uncompromising courage.''
       That day would be no different, except that Monti's final 
     act of bravery--running into a combat zone to save a wounded 
     comrade--would end with the ultimate sacrifice.
       Monti, a member of the elite 10th Mountain Division, was on 
     his second tour in Afghanistan and that day was part of an 
     advance scouting group--sent ahead of a larger force pushing 
     into a valley in the Nuristan province, his father said.
       More troops were coming behind them to rid the valley of 
     Taliban insurgents.
       Staff Sgt. Patrick L. Lybert, 28, of Wisconsin, finished 
     filling his water bottle and was lying down behind a stone 
     wall with another soldier, according to the military report.
       Monti slid down and sat behind a nearby rock and chatted 
     with two other soldiers. A third group collected behind 
     another rock wall.
       No one heard the clicks and rumbles of the grenade launcher 
     above them 50 meters away.
       The blasts began.
       The first rocket-propelled grenade exploded on their 
     plateau, followed by a hurricane of bullets from assault 
     rifles and machine guns coming from in front of and behind 
     them.
       The group ran to the rock where Monti sat, hesitating to 
     return fire. There were allies--possibly American soldiers--
     in that direction.
       He grabbed the radio and shouted back to the command 
     center. They were under attack and needed air support.
       They couldn't climb down from the plateau--the way down was 
     too steep. It would kill them.
       Behind Monti, one of his soldiers, a private, screamed. He 
     was shot in the back and his wrist was gashed open--probably 
     by a grenade fragment.
       The private, whose name the Department of Defense redacted 
     in the report, crawled toward the group with Monti. He was 
     bleeding and disoriented. Another soldier put pressure on the 
     wrist wound while someone yelled for the medic.
       Lybert leaned over the stone wall and fired back at the 
     insurgents and rockets exploded around them.
       ``You couldn't see anything but muzzle flashes and pops 
     through the trees,' said one staff sergeant, who was not 
     identified in the report.
       Monti was firing back, positioning the men and shouting in 
     the radio, doing what he did best--commanding everything at 
     once.
       He was their expert at calling in air attacks to precise 
     locations, which was what they needed--now.
       Everyone was there except for Pvt. Brian Bradbury, a 22-
     year-old from Missouri. He had to still be farther up--he 
     hadn't made it behind the rocks.
       Monti and the soldiers shouted his name. The explosions 
     drowned them out.
       Lybert rose again from behind the rock to fire. He was 
     shot. One bullet in his face. He collapsed.
       Someone yelled that Lybert wasn't moving. Blood was pooling 
     beneath his body.
       They continued firing, trying to ward off the insurgents 
     closing in on their team from the east and west.
       Bradbury was still nowhere to be found.
       Monti called for his men to cover him. He would not let the 
     young private remain out there alone.
       Seconds passed. Bullets blasted the plateau.
       Monti dropped back. He turned back into the fire.
       Grenades exploded.
       Monti screamed.
       ``Help me!'' he shouted.
       Bradbury had been wounded when a grenade landed nearby 
     earlier, injuring his arm and shoulder.
       Another grenade had hit Monti as he dashed across the ridge 
     to Bradbury, severely wounding his arm, leg and midsection.
       He was 20 meters from his team. He screamed in pain. They 
     fired at the insurgents as a fellow sergeant tried to dash 
     toward him.
       The sergeant ducked as more explosions came. He was 10 
     yards away.
       He heard Monti gasp his last words.
       ``Tell my family I love them,'' he said.

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