Frances M. Vega
| Frances M. Vega | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Frances Marie Benitez |
| Nickname(s) | "That Girl Benitez" |
| Born |
September 2, 1983 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Died | November 2, 2003 (aged 20) Al Fallujah, Iraq |
| Buried at | Puerto Rico National Cemetery, Bayamon, Puerto Rico, U.S. |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 2001-2003 |
| Rank |
 Specialist
|
| Unit | 151st Adjutant General Postal Detachment 3, 13th COSCOM |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
 Bronze Star Purple Heart
|
Frances Marie Vega (September 2, 1983 – November 2, 2003) was a United States Army soldier who was killed in the Iraq War. She is the first female soldier of Puerto Rican descent to have died in combat in the Iraq War.
Vega was born in San Francisco, California into a military family. Her father was stationed there as a member of the United States Army. After her father retired from the U.S. Army the family moved and settled in Puerto Rico where she continued her education at Antilles High School at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico and graduated in 2000.
Influenced by her military background and by the aftermath of the September 11 attacks she decided to enlisted in the U.S. Army, where she met her future husband and was married. Vega was assigned to the 151st Adjutant General Postal Detachment 3 at Fort Hood, Texas. She was deployed to Iraq as part of the Global War on Terrorism.
On November 2, 2003, a surface-to-air missile was fired by insurgents in al Fallujah and it hit the Chinook helicopter that Vega was in. She was one of 16 soldiers who were killed in the crash that followed.
Vega was buried in the Section L, Row 0, Site 7 of the Puerto Rico National Cemetery located in the city of Bayamon, Puerto Rico with full military honors and was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star for bravery and a Purple Heart Medal.
The post office on Camp Victory North, located in Baghdad, Iraq, was renamed the Frances M. Vega Army Post Office in a dedication ceremony in 2005. Her name along with the others who have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, was engraved on the "El Monumento de la Recordación" (English: Monument of Remembrance), dedicated to Puerto Rico's fallen soldiers and situated in front of the Capitol Building in San Juan, Puerto Rico and unveiled by Puerto Rico Senate President and P.R. National Guard Adjutant General Col. David Carrión on Memorial Day, 2007. The Main Gate at Fort Buchanan Army Base was named the SPC Frances M. Vega gate in her honor.
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