10th soldiers tune in to ceremony

FORT DRUM — Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division’s 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team rear detachment watched from inside the unit’s headquarters Thursday afternoon as President Barack Obama awarded the military’s highest honor to one of their own, the late Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti.

In a cramped room, about half a dozen soldiers and as many members of the press gathered around a small movie screen as the ceremony presenting the Medal of Honor to Sgt. Monti’s parents was broadcast live from the White House about 2 p.m. on the Pentagon’s television channel.

Sgt. Monti, Raynham, Mass., died in June 2006 while trying to rescue an injured comrade during a firefight in Afghanistan, advancing three separate times under heavy fire. Both soldiers were killed. It was that selfless rescue attempt that garnered Sgt. Monti an award reserved for acts of conspicuous “gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of ... life above and beyond the call of duty.” If he had survived, he would have celebrated his 34th birthday this week.

At the unit’s headquarters, the soldiers and reporters watched the televised tribute in silence. A short documentary on Sgt. Monti’s life, aired afterward, included interviews with his relatives. A bit of nervous laughter erupted when Sgt. Monti’s sister, Niccole, described how her brother once angered a housemate by giving away their kitchen table to someone in need.

“He did what he did because it came from his heart,” she said in the video.

When the program ended, the soldiers headed out of the room, stony-faced. A single slap on the back was the only acknowledgment of emotion.

Soldiers helping with the broadcast said one or two of the men who’d attended knew Sgt. Monti personally. Others were newer to the unit. But they, too, were familiar with Sgt. Monti’s story.

“I joined the unit two months after he died,” Capt. John Cavanagh said. “I was with all the guys who talked about him.” He knew some were “pretty devastated” by the loss, he added.

Asked whether the unit’s other soldiers would respond with the same courage and selflessness as Sgt. Monti in similar circumstances, Capt. Cavanagh said, “I’d like to think so. But even the best soldiers might not make the same decisions he did. There’s only one way to know, and that’s in the moment.”

A memorial display honoring Sgt. Monti soon will be set up inside the unit’s headquarters building, and a sign has been erected at a recreation area outside, christening it “Monti’s Place.”