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BGs Hester first woman to receive Silver Star since WWII

Friday, June 17, 2005

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester on Thursday received the first Silver Star awarded to a woman since World War II, a war her grandfather earned a Bronze Star in.

Hester, 23, a Bowling Green native, is with the Kentucky National Guards 617th Military Police Company serving in Iraq. Her squad was shadowing a supply convoy March 20 when it was ambushed.

We were patrolling the supply route, following the convoy, Hester said yesterday in a telephone interview from Iraq. The convoy came under fire and we placed ourselves between them and the insurgents.

The squad drove their Humvees between the trucks in the convoy to the side of the road the fighters were firing from, flanking the insurgents and cutting off their escape route.

Hester led her team through the kill zone and she assaulted a trench line with grenades and M203 grenade-launcher rounds. She and Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein, her squad leader, then cleared two trenches, where she shot and killed three insurgents.

There was a big adrenaline rush and I remember just thinking about having to get the job done, protect myself and my team, said Hester, who manages a Nashville shoe store in civilian life.

Nein and Spc. Jason Mike, another member of her team, also received the Silver Star for their actions during the ambush. Other members of the unit received awards, including three Bronze Stars.

Hester and her fellow soldiers were awarded during a ceremony Thursday at Camp Liberty, Iraq, by Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, Multinational Corps Iraq commanding general. In his speech, Vines commended the soldiers for their bravery and their contribution to the international war on terror.

Hesters and two other squads from the 617th MP Company battled an estimated 40 to 50 insurgents in that ambush that were armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.

When the fight was over, 27 insurgents were dead, six were wounded, and another fighter was captured.

Three soldiers of the 617th were wounded in the ambush. Hester said she and the other squad members are thinking about them, and she is very thankful to have made it through unscathed.

The firefight, along with the entire deployment, has had a lasting effect on her, Hester said.

I think about it every day, and probably will for the rest of my life, she said.

Hester said her uncle, Carl Sollinger, was in Vietnam and her grandfather, Oran Sollinger, was in World War II. They passed on some sage advice before she left for Iraq.

They said kick butt and keep your head down, Hester said.

That is advice that Carl Sollinger said he is glad, and proud, she is following.

Hester said she knows her family is proud of her.

Theyre very happy for me, she said. And theyre glad that Im safe and sitting here talking about it today.

Hesters mom, Shelia Hester, said she wasnt enthused the day an Army recruiter came to the house after meeting her at high school.

Shelia Hester said her daughter did go on to a year at Western Kentucky University after graduation, but it wasnt the right time for her to be there. But she was surprised by her daughters decision to join the guard.

What do you say when you have a 19-year-old who comes home and tells you that is what she wants to do, her mom said. You have to let her make her own decisions.

The family is proud of their soldier, and at times, thinking back, they can see where her service was inevitable, and still it was a surprise.

I still cant see her as a soldier fighting in a war, Oran Sollinger said.

But the veteran of battles in France and Germany shows his pride as he ribs her.

Ive told her Im going to have to re-enlist, he said. My Bronze Star doesnt shine as bright next to her Silver Star.

Leigh Ann Hesters father, Jerry Hester, said her abilities arent a surprise to him this is the same 6-year-old girl who was climbing every tree wearing camouflage hunting clothes and a Rambo headband.

Her family described Leigh Ann Hester as growing up an active, outdoors-oriented girl who played fast-pitch softball and basketball for Greenwood High School.

Being the first woman soldier since World War II to receive the medal is significant to Leigh Ann Hester. But, she said, she doesnt dwell on the fact.

It really doesnt have anything to do with being a female, she said. Its about the duties I performed that day as a soldier.

The suggestion by some in the legislature that women should not be allowed in combat units is not a popular one in the Hester family.

She would not be happy sitting behind a desk in the Army, Sheila Hester said.

Her uncle agreed, and added a veterans point of view.

They ought to be allowed to do any job they are qualified for, just like the men, Carl Sollinger said.

Leigh Ann Hester was diplomatic when addressing the issue.

Im here doing my job like any other soldier here, she said. No matter what gender you are, you are still a soldier.

She said her experiences in the service have given her reason to think about making it a career, but has decided she still wants to pursue a career in law enforcement.

Being an MP was what shed originally wanted to sign up for in the guard.

But her dad said she had to start out training as a truck driver at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri and was ready to complete that school when she got news that the 617th was moved to this area.

Immediately, he said, she jumped on the chance and started MP school.

But with all their pride in Leigh Ann Hesters accomplishments, the family is still uncomfortable about her being in harms way, as they remember their times at war.

I wish she was home, Carl Sollinger said. I talked to her a little back before she went. I said it is kind of like Vietnam over there and that she would be facing a hit-and-run kind of enemy.

Her grandfather said it isnt the kind of war he faced.

This war is all together different from when I was at war, Oran said. You didnt have people tying bombs around their waist and blowing people up. That is crazy.

It is all taking its toll on Leigh Ann Hester, and a heavier toll on some in her unit.

I happened to be on that detail when Mike Hayes was killed this week, she said.

She said the Butler County Soccer coach was killed not far from her, and in that instant she lost a friend.

Spc. Michael Ray Hayes, 29, of Morgantown was with a group of Guardsmen providing security around a possible improvised explosive device near Baghdad on Tuesday when they were attacked.

He was a great guy, a good friend and a good soldier, Leigh Ann Hester said. He was an awesome person and hes going to be missed.

Her parents said she was one of the first soldiers to reach Hayes vehicle. The event spread a cloud over the recognition she and others in the unit received this week.

The past two or three days its been kind of quiet around here, Leigh Ann Hester said.

They are all anticipating the end of their tour in Iraq.

Its getting closer and closer to going home, she said. Im hopeful that well rotate home in November.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700