May 25, 2025 • 27 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, the late Paul Monti often drove his son Jared’s truck—an act that inspired the hit country song “I Drive Your Truck” by Lee Brice. But the story is about much more than a song. It’s the story of Jared Monti, a true hero who sacrificed his life trying to save a fellow soldier during close-quarters combat in the mountains of Afghanistan. For his actions, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. It’s also the story of a father dedicated to keeping his son’s memory alive after his ultimate sacrifice. Paul Monti shares the story himself—in an interview he gave to Our American Stories shortly before his passing in 2022.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories
Memorial Day special. All so long, we're honoring our nation's
fallen heroes. You might know the song I Drive Your
Truck by Lee Brice. It went to the top of
the country charts in twenty fourteen. But do you know
the story of the man who inspired the song. His
(00:32):
name was Jared Monty and he was a hero of
the highest caliber. Jared received the Medal of Honor for
his actions in Afghanistan in two thousand and six. Here
to tell Jared's story is Paul Monty, his father.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I think his lot in life was to try to
bring joy to anybody and everybody that he ever met. Well,
Jared was a very adventurous kid. There wasn't a tree
too high for him to climb, or a hill. There
wasn't a body of water too wide, too deep for
him to cross. There were certain characteristics in him that
(01:14):
became apparent as he grew. We liked to talk about
his life in terms of three principles that he lived by,
the first of which was to always try the hardest.
In this we noticed with him, whether it was sports
or school or anything else that he had to do
he was a kid that always gave a hundred percent
(01:37):
to everything he did. His second principle was to never
give up, and that became also a parent. One of
the stories I liked to tell regarding that was, uh,
he was a really, really good basketball player. He was
a pretty much the shortest kid in his class, but
he was a heck of a basketball player. And when
he went to middle school, he tried out for the
(01:58):
JV team and he was the last one cut from
the team. His fellow players said they were all going
to quit because Monty wasn't picked, and Jared got them
together and talked to them and said, hey, you don't quit.
(02:18):
You guys keep going. Don't worry about me. So that passed,
and the next year middle school, he tried out for
the team again, and again he was the last cut.
And then the third year he tried out again, this
time for the varsity and the varsity coach came up
to him and said, Jared, why don't you accept the
(02:41):
position as team manager and you can warm up with
the team before games, but of course you can't play,
and he accepted that. After the second game, the coach
found a uniform for him, because you know, it was
kind of embarrassing. He was the only one in street
clothes warming up. And then after the third game, the
coach started using him as, you know, a mop up
(03:06):
player towards the end of a game. By the end
of the season, he was out scoring some of the
starters on the team. At his graduation from middle school,
when they were giving out the awards for the basketball team,
the coach got up and read all the names, and
then when he got to the end, he said, he said,
(03:26):
this last guy is the epitome of what an athlete
should be. And he's the biggest mistake that I ever
made in my twenty five years of coaching basketball. What
an honor to a young man, and what courage it
took for him to do that, and to be that
guy that you know, never gave up, that kept on trying.
(03:48):
What a character he must have had to do that
kind of a thing. He always did the right thing,
no matter what it cost him personally. Doing the right
thing was just out of him. You know. One day
when I came home and looked in his room, his
bed was missing, and I called him and Jared, where's
(04:12):
your bed? He said, well, Dad, one of my one
of my friends was kicked out of his house. He's
sleeping over someone else's house and they don't have a
bed for him. He's sleeping on the floor and he
can't sleep. I don't mind sleeping on the floor, Dad,
so I gave him my bed. Another incident, he came
to me one day and said, Dad, would you mind
(04:32):
if I cut down one of those spruce trees we
have in the front of the house. I said, well,
what do you want that for. He said, well, guys
and I we want to have we want to have
our own Christmas tree. I said, well, okay, go ahead.
And it was only after his death when one of
his friends came up to me and said, mister Mounty,
(04:55):
you remember that Christmas tree Jared cut down And I
said yeah. He said, well, he didn't really cut that
down for us. He found a single mom in town
that had three kids and didn't have enough money to
celebrate Christmas with the kids. So he brought it to
her house and got lights for it and ornaments for it.
(05:15):
He bought presents for all the kids and for the woman,
and then he stayed and made Christmas dinner for them
all and.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Never told the soul.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
It's these kinds of things that he did and with
great humility. I remember a day when he asked me
to drive him to a weightlifting competition. I did. I
drove him there and I said, well, when do you
want me to pick you up or he want me
to come in? And he said no, no, no, no no,
I'll get a ride home with somebody else. Now, after
(05:51):
his death, I went up to clean his room and
underneath his bed was a box full of trophies. He
had soccer trophies and bassetball trophies and basketball trophies. But
what stood out was this three foot trophy that was
under the bed of a weightlifter and I read the
plaque and it said New England Weightlifting Championships, first place
(06:15):
under seventeen division. Jared Monty never told anybody it wasn't
being done for personal gain. It was just this is
something I want to do to, you know, for myself,
and that's what he did. It just carried on throughout
(06:37):
his life, and the culmination of all of that was
on that day that he died.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And you're listening to Paul Monty tell the story of
his fallen son. Am I goodness, if you're a son
and your dad speaks these words over you like this,
you are a one lucky man. And if you're a
dad who gets to speak these words about a son,
lucky father. When we come back, more of this remarkable story,
this beautiful story, father and son bond, A fallen soldier's
(07:07):
story honoring all those who fell in all of our wars.
Here a Memorial Day More of Paulmonty's story and Jared's
here on Our American Stories. Lihabib here the host of
(07:31):
our American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing
inspiring stories from across this great country, stories from our
big cities and small towns. But we truly can't do
the show without you. Our stories are free to listen to,
but they're not free to make. If you love what
you hear, go to Alamerican Stories dot com and click
the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go
(07:54):
to Alamerican Stories dot com and give. And we returned
to our American Stories Memorial Day special in the story
of Sergeant first Class Jared Monty. When we last left
(08:17):
off Paul Monty, Jared's father was telling us about the
kind of person that his son was. Let's pick up
where we last left off.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Well, it was his junior year in high school and
he came home and Dad, can I talk to you?
He said sure, He said I want to join the army. Dad,
And I said, world, wha whah, Wait a minute, I said,
you know you're you're an age student. You're going to
go to college. Son. I said, well, Dad, you can't
afford to sum me to college. And I said, well,
(08:51):
you know, Jared, I'll just get another job. He said, Dad,
you're already working two and three jobs. Let me do this.
I'll go in the army and they'll pay for my college.
What was I to say? You know, being only seventeen,
I had to sign papers for him, and I did
(09:14):
very reluctantly. But you know, like I had said before,
he was a very adventurous kid, and this really appealed
to him, this idea of you know, the adventure of
the military and seeing the world. And he loved his country,
so there it was. It was made for him. He
(09:37):
was a thirteen f Ford observer what we used to
call the suicide squad because they were always operating behind
enemy lines. That bothered me too. I mean, like I said,
we called it the suicide squad. But danger and dangerous
things never bothered him. You know, he loved the roller coaster,
he loved riding a motorcycle. That kind of thing didn't
(09:59):
bother him, and especially in the military where he knew
how important it was to saving lives. That's what he loved.
He number of times got himself into trouble in the
military for that kind of a thing of being a
(10:20):
little more adventurous than some officer wanted him to be.
I remember an incident in South Korea where he had
to take his platoon out on basically a war games maneuver,
(10:40):
and they came to a stream which was flowing really quickly.
They were supposed to cross this stream, and when Jarvid
saw the stream, he halted his guys and said, you
know what, that doesn't look safe at all. Let me
go out and check it and make sure it's safe
(11:01):
for all of us. Now, being a sergeant at that time,
normally you would assign that to a private or someone,
but Jared always led from the front. It was always
my boy's dead, my boys. He looked upon them as
(11:22):
young people that he had to protect. It was his
job to make sure his guys were safe. So he
forwarded the stream, but he ended up getting washed downstream.
They all thought he was dead, but luckily enough, there
was a floating branch in the water that he was
(11:43):
able to cling to until they found him and took
him out. But that's again, it was always a matter
of him taking the chances and not allowing his boys
to be in the line of danger. That's just who
(12:03):
he was, it's just what he did. And yeah, he
ended up being twice deployed to Afghanistan. Probably the most
dangerous area in all of Afghanistan was this area in
(12:25):
the Kuna Valley. This was the place where the Taliban
would come in from Pakistan. This was their main route,
and the army had decided that they were gonna put
a kebash on this. They had tried number of times
and were never successful, but they did put together this plan.
(12:48):
So Jared with his platoon and Chris Cunningham, who was
another sergeant. He was a sniper and he had his snipers.
So there were sixteen of them all together. Eight of
them were four observers and eight snipers, and they were
tasks to climb this mountain. The mountain was eighty five
(13:10):
hundred feet high. To set up an observation post at
the top of the mountain to view the crossing area
down below in the valley so that they could call
in fire when the main force a day later was
to come into the valley. So, in one hundred degree
(13:33):
heat and all of these guys carrying, you know, packs
of seventy plus pounds, climbing mostly at night, they climbed
hill twenty six'. Ten it took them two days to climb. That,
now as an aside to, that the night before they
left to make this, CLIMB i got a call very
(13:59):
early in the morning and got me out of. Bed
get out of. BED i answered the. Phone he said,
hello AND i heard, Hi, Pop Happy Father's. Day AND
i was like shocked that he would call me to
wish me a Happy Father's. Day and at the end
(14:23):
of that conversation he, Said, DAD i got to. Go
we're leaving on a. Mission and that's when they left
to climb that. Mountain it was, hot they were out of,
food they were out of, water and the army had
made provisions to have an air drop for them at
(14:48):
the same time they were going into the, valley so
that the helicopter dropping their provisions wouldn't be. Noticed, however
because one helicopter was dea needed, repairs the army decided
to postpone the attack into the valley for two, days
(15:09):
which left the guys at the top without food and,
water and the army then decided to send in their supply. Helicopter,
anyway the helicopter came, in it missed the drop point
and dropped the stuff way too near, them mocking their.
Position as the sun was setting on that, day they
(15:37):
heard noises in the woods that surrounded this plateau about
half the size of a football, field and at that
point all hell broke. Loose small arms fire machine guns
RPGs started raining on their position so badly that these
(16:01):
guys couldn't pop their head. Up one of them got
his rifle shot out of his, hands another one was
shot in the in the wrist and in the. Back
the trees surrounding them had no branches left on, them
And Private bradbury and another soldier who had been kind
(16:27):
of at the, point they were in danger of being,
overrun and so they decided to run back to the opposite,
end where there were some rocks they could hide. Behind
the one soldier made it The bradbury was hit and
he was. Down you, know it's like being in the
middle of a football field or baseball, field totally devoid
(16:49):
of any cover, whatsoever no, rocks no, trees and the
enemy was still fighting at. Him jared called in for, artillery,
mortars air support danger, close WHICH i think people. Understand
that means the bombs are going to be dropping so
(17:13):
close to you that if you're not, down the chances
are you're going to be killed as well as you.
Know and after calling in the, coordinates that's When jared
he handed off the radio to someone, else and that's
when he tightened his chin. Strap And Chris cunningham had,
Said i'm going out to Get bradbury In jared answered
(17:35):
him back and, said, no he's my. Boy i'm going
to get.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Him when we come. Back more of the remarkable story
Of jared And Paul monty here on Our American stories
(18:08):
and we returned to Our American Stories Memorial Day special
and the story Of sergeant First Class Jared. Monty when
we last left, Off jared and a group of men
he had helped to lead into one of the most
dangerous areas Of afghanistan were surrounded by a group of
fifty insurgents outmanned and out. Gunned to add to the,
Situation BRIAN. J bradbury was down and exposed to enemy.
(18:30):
Fire jared decided he would expose himself, too in order
to save his Private let's return to the.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Story he ran out to Get bradbury. In he was
driven back by the heavy enemy. Fire there were at
least fifty taliban firing at. Them and then he tried
a second time and was driven back a second, time
and you, know not being able to give up and
(18:58):
wanting to do the right, thing he went the third.
Time that's when he was hit by THE apg and
he was. Killed and that's that's what led up to
him receiving The medal Of.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
HONOR i haven't gotten through.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
It next month will be fifteen years And i'm still
stuck in. It no one should lose a. Child it's
not supposed to happen that. Way it's you, know the
parents go first and the children grieve for. Them i'll
never forget that, night ninety FIVE. Pm i'm sitting Watching
(19:47):
America's Got talent and my doorbell rang AND i saw
two men come around the side of the house and,
uniform AND i knew. Immediately you, know you answer the
door and you get the government. Response you, know, we,
(20:18):
uh we need to inform you that you know your
son was was killed in, action and from that moment,
on you just you're off. SOMEWHERE i remember sitting down
with them at the dining room table and having a
stack of papers shoved in front of me and asked
(20:42):
to sign. This sign, this sign, this and you just
go through the. Motions you don't want to believe what they're.
Saying you want to think that someone made a. MISTAKE
i was SO i was so messed. UP i, mean his,
guys they couldn't believe what. Happened monty was so revered
(21:07):
to them that nothing could ever happen to. Him to this,
day they have the same. Feeling they. ALL i don't
think any of them have ever gotten over what. Happened
he wasn't just you, know their. Sergeant he was their. Friend,
(21:29):
Yeah i'm your, boss And i'm, gonna you, know guide,
you But i'm going to be your. Friend back in The,
states every weekend he would either be going to someone's
house to help them put in a, floor or he
was having a barbecue for. Them or if there was
(21:52):
a celebration for one of their, children he would be.
There he took care of them as if they were
and indeed they were his. Brothers that's where my pride
comes in that he was such a good human being
THAT i wonder If i'm even worthy to be called his.
(22:15):
Father it's really, very very difficult to understand that a
person like this is related to, you never mind being
your own. SON i wasn't even expecting the. Truck when
(22:38):
they delivered all his stuff from his apartment In New.
York the last thing that came off was his, truck
AND i was, like, wow there was an empty, Bottle,
well it wasn't quite empty on the. Floorboards he liked his,
jaw so he always had a bottle with a to
(23:00):
spit into that was in. There at toothpaste in. There
he had, mouthwash he had a, toothbrush he Had, yeah
he had a little container of. Coins he. Had oh,
lord just you know a guy's. TRUCK i, mean it's
(23:22):
pretty much the same even, now fifteen years later as
it was when he. LEFT i never vacuumed. It it
sure needs, it BUT i just don't want to remove HIS.
DNA i don't want that sucked up by a vacuum.
Cleaner so, yeah it's a little, messy but it's him
(23:45):
and he's with me WHEN i drive, it SO i
don't drive it as much AS i used. To it
was my everyday vehicle for a, while and THEN i
realized that it had to be, preserved SO i got another.
Vehicle BUT i still make SURE i i've his truck,
whenever WHENEVER i, can at least once a week to
get it out and run. It some people have, said you,
(24:11):
know time heals all. Wounds it. Doesn't it absolutely. Doesn't
i'm fifteen years in and it's almost like it happened.
Yesterday this is the way it, is the way my
life is. Now you, know there's a door in front
of me with my son's name on, it And i'm
(24:36):
expecting to be able to open that door and go
and visit, him and go to sports games with, him
and go fishing with, him and just have him over
my house for a, barbecue to hold his, kids my
(24:57):
grandkids on my. Lap that's WHAT i expect WHEN i
open that. Door but WHEN i actually reach out and
open that, door it's just totally dark. Inside there will
be no barbecues in the. Backyard there will be No
Red sox, games there will be no fishing, trips there
(25:20):
will be no. GRANDKIDS i know The lord works in
very mysterious, ways AND i know that no matter who you,
are when a loved one, dies you always have that
question Why. God BUT i was actually able to answer that.
(25:40):
Question whole thing that came about from my son's, death
the fact that we now have a charity that places
flags on every grave at The National cemeterium born Every Memorial,
(26:02):
day in Every Veterans, day now placing seventy seven thousand.
Flags the fact that we were able to give out
sixteen thousand dollars in scholarship money this. Year the effect
That jared's had on so many, people especially young, people
(26:22):
throughout the entire, country indeed in some cases the. World
it seems to me That god looked down and he,
said you, Know, jared you're doing a fabulous job on that,
planet but if you come up here with, me you'll
be able to do even. More and that's what he's
(26:44):
been doing since he, passed even.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
More in a spectacular job By monty as, always and my,
goodness what a piece of storytelling From Paul monty and
gotten through. It no one should lose a. Child the
parent goes. First he wasn't just their, sergeant he, said
(27:08):
he was their. Friend he was such a good human.
Being the story Of Jared, monty the story Of Paul.
Monty here on Our American. Stories
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories
Memorial Day special. All so long, we're honoring our nation's
fallen heroes. You might know the song I Drive Your
Truck by Lee Brice. It went to the top of
the country charts in twenty fourteen. But do you know
the story of the man who inspired the song. His
(00:32):
name was Jared Monty and he was a hero of
the highest caliber. Jared received the Medal of Honor for
his actions in Afghanistan in two thousand and six. Here
to tell Jared's story is Paul Monty, his father.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I think his lot in life was to try to
bring joy to anybody and everybody that he ever met. Well,
Jared was a very adventurous kid. There wasn't a tree
too high for him to climb, or a hill. There
wasn't a body of water too wide, too deep for
him to cross. There were certain characteristics in him that
(01:14):
became apparent as he grew. We liked to talk about
his life in terms of three principles that he lived by,
the first of which was to always try the hardest.
In this we noticed with him, whether it was sports
or school or anything else that he had to do
he was a kid that always gave a hundred percent
(01:37):
to everything he did. His second principle was to never
give up, and that became also a parent. One of
the stories I liked to tell regarding that was, uh,
he was a really, really good basketball player. He was
a pretty much the shortest kid in his class, but
he was a heck of a basketball player. And when
he went to middle school, he tried out for the
(01:58):
JV team and he was the last one cut from
the team. His fellow players said they were all going
to quit because Monty wasn't picked, and Jared got them
together and talked to them and said, hey, you don't quit.
(02:18):
You guys keep going. Don't worry about me. So that passed,
and the next year middle school, he tried out for
the team again, and again he was the last cut.
And then the third year he tried out again, this
time for the varsity and the varsity coach came up
to him and said, Jared, why don't you accept the
(02:41):
position as team manager and you can warm up with
the team before games, but of course you can't play,
and he accepted that. After the second game, the coach
found a uniform for him, because you know, it was
kind of embarrassing. He was the only one in street
clothes warming up. And then after the third game, the
coach started using him as, you know, a mop up
(03:06):
player towards the end of a game. By the end
of the season, he was out scoring some of the
starters on the team. At his graduation from middle school,
when they were giving out the awards for the basketball team,
the coach got up and read all the names, and
then when he got to the end, he said, he said,
(03:26):
this last guy is the epitome of what an athlete
should be. And he's the biggest mistake that I ever
made in my twenty five years of coaching basketball. What
an honor to a young man, and what courage it
took for him to do that, and to be that
guy that you know, never gave up, that kept on trying.
(03:48):
What a character he must have had to do that
kind of a thing. He always did the right thing,
no matter what it cost him personally. Doing the right
thing was just out of him. You know. One day
when I came home and looked in his room, his
bed was missing, and I called him and Jared, where's
(04:12):
your bed? He said, well, Dad, one of my one
of my friends was kicked out of his house. He's
sleeping over someone else's house and they don't have a
bed for him. He's sleeping on the floor and he
can't sleep. I don't mind sleeping on the floor, Dad,
so I gave him my bed. Another incident, he came
to me one day and said, Dad, would you mind
(04:32):
if I cut down one of those spruce trees we
have in the front of the house. I said, well,
what do you want that for. He said, well, guys
and I we want to have we want to have
our own Christmas tree. I said, well, okay, go ahead.
And it was only after his death when one of
his friends came up to me and said, mister Mounty,
(04:55):
you remember that Christmas tree Jared cut down And I
said yeah. He said, well, he didn't really cut that
down for us. He found a single mom in town
that had three kids and didn't have enough money to
celebrate Christmas with the kids. So he brought it to
her house and got lights for it and ornaments for it.
(05:15):
He bought presents for all the kids and for the woman,
and then he stayed and made Christmas dinner for them
all and.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Never told the soul.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
It's these kinds of things that he did and with
great humility. I remember a day when he asked me
to drive him to a weightlifting competition. I did. I
drove him there and I said, well, when do you
want me to pick you up or he want me
to come in? And he said no, no, no, no no,
I'll get a ride home with somebody else. Now, after
(05:51):
his death, I went up to clean his room and
underneath his bed was a box full of trophies. He
had soccer trophies and bassetball trophies and basketball trophies. But
what stood out was this three foot trophy that was
under the bed of a weightlifter and I read the
plaque and it said New England Weightlifting Championships, first place
(06:15):
under seventeen division. Jared Monty never told anybody it wasn't
being done for personal gain. It was just this is
something I want to do to, you know, for myself,
and that's what he did. It just carried on throughout
(06:37):
his life, and the culmination of all of that was
on that day that he died.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And you're listening to Paul Monty tell the story of
his fallen son. Am I goodness, if you're a son
and your dad speaks these words over you like this,
you are a one lucky man. And if you're a
dad who gets to speak these words about a son,
lucky father. When we come back, more of this remarkable story,
this beautiful story, father and son bond, A fallen soldier's
(07:07):
story honoring all those who fell in all of our wars.
Here a Memorial Day More of Paulmonty's story and Jared's
here on Our American Stories. Lihabib here the host of
(07:31):
our American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing
inspiring stories from across this great country, stories from our
big cities and small towns. But we truly can't do
the show without you. Our stories are free to listen to,
but they're not free to make. If you love what
you hear, go to Alamerican Stories dot com and click
the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go
(07:54):
to Alamerican Stories dot com and give. And we returned
to our American Stories Memorial Day special in the story
of Sergeant first Class Jared Monty. When we last left
(08:17):
off Paul Monty, Jared's father was telling us about the
kind of person that his son was. Let's pick up
where we last left off.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Well, it was his junior year in high school and
he came home and Dad, can I talk to you?
He said sure, He said I want to join the army. Dad,
And I said, world, wha whah, Wait a minute, I said,
you know you're you're an age student. You're going to
go to college. Son. I said, well, Dad, you can't
afford to sum me to college. And I said, well,
(08:51):
you know, Jared, I'll just get another job. He said, Dad,
you're already working two and three jobs. Let me do this.
I'll go in the army and they'll pay for my college.
What was I to say? You know, being only seventeen,
I had to sign papers for him, and I did
(09:14):
very reluctantly. But you know, like I had said before,
he was a very adventurous kid, and this really appealed
to him, this idea of you know, the adventure of
the military and seeing the world. And he loved his country,
so there it was. It was made for him. He
(09:37):
was a thirteen f Ford observer what we used to
call the suicide squad because they were always operating behind
enemy lines. That bothered me too. I mean, like I said,
we called it the suicide squad. But danger and dangerous
things never bothered him. You know, he loved the roller coaster,
he loved riding a motorcycle. That kind of thing didn't
(09:59):
bother him, and especially in the military where he knew
how important it was to saving lives. That's what he loved.
He number of times got himself into trouble in the
military for that kind of a thing of being a
(10:20):
little more adventurous than some officer wanted him to be.
I remember an incident in South Korea where he had
to take his platoon out on basically a war games maneuver,
(10:40):
and they came to a stream which was flowing really quickly.
They were supposed to cross this stream, and when Jarvid
saw the stream, he halted his guys and said, you
know what, that doesn't look safe at all. Let me
go out and check it and make sure it's safe
(11:01):
for all of us. Now, being a sergeant at that time,
normally you would assign that to a private or someone,
but Jared always led from the front. It was always
my boy's dead, my boys. He looked upon them as
(11:22):
young people that he had to protect. It was his
job to make sure his guys were safe. So he
forwarded the stream, but he ended up getting washed downstream.
They all thought he was dead, but luckily enough, there
was a floating branch in the water that he was
(11:43):
able to cling to until they found him and took
him out. But that's again, it was always a matter
of him taking the chances and not allowing his boys
to be in the line of danger. That's just who
(12:03):
he was, it's just what he did. And yeah, he
ended up being twice deployed to Afghanistan. Probably the most
dangerous area in all of Afghanistan was this area in
(12:25):
the Kuna Valley. This was the place where the Taliban
would come in from Pakistan. This was their main route,
and the army had decided that they were gonna put
a kebash on this. They had tried number of times
and were never successful, but they did put together this plan.
(12:48):
So Jared with his platoon and Chris Cunningham, who was
another sergeant. He was a sniper and he had his snipers.
So there were sixteen of them all together. Eight of
them were four observers and eight snipers, and they were
tasks to climb this mountain. The mountain was eighty five
(13:10):
hundred feet high. To set up an observation post at
the top of the mountain to view the crossing area
down below in the valley so that they could call
in fire when the main force a day later was
to come into the valley. So, in one hundred degree
(13:33):
heat and all of these guys carrying, you know, packs
of seventy plus pounds, climbing mostly at night, they climbed
hill twenty six'. Ten it took them two days to climb. That,
now as an aside to, that the night before they
left to make this, CLIMB i got a call very
(13:59):
early in the morning and got me out of. Bed
get out of. BED i answered the. Phone he said,
hello AND i heard, Hi, Pop Happy Father's. Day AND
i was like shocked that he would call me to
wish me a Happy Father's. Day and at the end
(14:23):
of that conversation he, Said, DAD i got to. Go
we're leaving on a. Mission and that's when they left
to climb that. Mountain it was, hot they were out of,
food they were out of, water and the army had
made provisions to have an air drop for them at
(14:48):
the same time they were going into the, valley so
that the helicopter dropping their provisions wouldn't be. Noticed, however
because one helicopter was dea needed, repairs the army decided
to postpone the attack into the valley for two, days
(15:09):
which left the guys at the top without food and,
water and the army then decided to send in their supply. Helicopter,
anyway the helicopter came, in it missed the drop point
and dropped the stuff way too near, them mocking their.
Position as the sun was setting on that, day they
(15:37):
heard noises in the woods that surrounded this plateau about
half the size of a football, field and at that
point all hell broke. Loose small arms fire machine guns
RPGs started raining on their position so badly that these
(16:01):
guys couldn't pop their head. Up one of them got
his rifle shot out of his, hands another one was
shot in the in the wrist and in the. Back
the trees surrounding them had no branches left on, them
And Private bradbury and another soldier who had been kind
(16:27):
of at the, point they were in danger of being,
overrun and so they decided to run back to the opposite,
end where there were some rocks they could hide. Behind
the one soldier made it The bradbury was hit and
he was. Down you, know it's like being in the
middle of a football field or baseball, field totally devoid
(16:49):
of any cover, whatsoever no, rocks no, trees and the
enemy was still fighting at. Him jared called in for, artillery,
mortars air support danger, close WHICH i think people. Understand
that means the bombs are going to be dropping so
(17:13):
close to you that if you're not, down the chances
are you're going to be killed as well as you.
Know and after calling in the, coordinates that's When jared
he handed off the radio to someone, else and that's
when he tightened his chin. Strap And Chris cunningham had,
Said i'm going out to Get bradbury In jared answered
(17:35):
him back and, said, no he's my. Boy i'm going
to get.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Him when we come. Back more of the remarkable story
Of jared And Paul monty here on Our American stories
(18:08):
and we returned to Our American Stories Memorial Day special
and the story Of sergeant First Class Jared. Monty when
we last left, Off jared and a group of men
he had helped to lead into one of the most
dangerous areas Of afghanistan were surrounded by a group of
fifty insurgents outmanned and out. Gunned to add to the,
Situation BRIAN. J bradbury was down and exposed to enemy.
(18:30):
Fire jared decided he would expose himself, too in order
to save his Private let's return to the.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Story he ran out to Get bradbury. In he was
driven back by the heavy enemy. Fire there were at
least fifty taliban firing at. Them and then he tried
a second time and was driven back a second, time
and you, know not being able to give up and
(18:58):
wanting to do the right, thing he went the third.
Time that's when he was hit by THE apg and
he was. Killed and that's that's what led up to
him receiving The medal Of.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
HONOR i haven't gotten through.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
It next month will be fifteen years And i'm still
stuck in. It no one should lose a. Child it's
not supposed to happen that. Way it's you, know the
parents go first and the children grieve for. Them i'll
never forget that, night ninety FIVE. Pm i'm sitting Watching
(19:47):
America's Got talent and my doorbell rang AND i saw
two men come around the side of the house and,
uniform AND i knew. Immediately you, know you answer the
door and you get the government. Response you, know, we,
(20:18):
uh we need to inform you that you know your
son was was killed in, action and from that moment,
on you just you're off. SOMEWHERE i remember sitting down
with them at the dining room table and having a
stack of papers shoved in front of me and asked
(20:42):
to sign. This sign, this sign, this and you just
go through the. Motions you don't want to believe what they're.
Saying you want to think that someone made a. MISTAKE
i was SO i was so messed. UP i, mean his,
guys they couldn't believe what. Happened monty was so revered
(21:07):
to them that nothing could ever happen to. Him to this,
day they have the same. Feeling they. ALL i don't
think any of them have ever gotten over what. Happened
he wasn't just you, know their. Sergeant he was their. Friend,
(21:29):
Yeah i'm your, boss And i'm, gonna you, know guide,
you But i'm going to be your. Friend back in The,
states every weekend he would either be going to someone's
house to help them put in a, floor or he
was having a barbecue for. Them or if there was
(21:52):
a celebration for one of their, children he would be.
There he took care of them as if they were
and indeed they were his. Brothers that's where my pride
comes in that he was such a good human being
THAT i wonder If i'm even worthy to be called his.
(22:15):
Father it's really, very very difficult to understand that a
person like this is related to, you never mind being
your own. SON i wasn't even expecting the. Truck when
(22:38):
they delivered all his stuff from his apartment In New.
York the last thing that came off was his, truck
AND i was, like, wow there was an empty, Bottle,
well it wasn't quite empty on the. Floorboards he liked his,
jaw so he always had a bottle with a to
(23:00):
spit into that was in. There at toothpaste in. There
he had, mouthwash he had a, toothbrush he Had, yeah
he had a little container of. Coins he. Had oh,
lord just you know a guy's. TRUCK i, mean it's
(23:22):
pretty much the same even, now fifteen years later as
it was when he. LEFT i never vacuumed. It it
sure needs, it BUT i just don't want to remove HIS.
DNA i don't want that sucked up by a vacuum.
Cleaner so, yeah it's a little, messy but it's him
(23:45):
and he's with me WHEN i drive, it SO i
don't drive it as much AS i used. To it
was my everyday vehicle for a, while and THEN i
realized that it had to be, preserved SO i got another.
Vehicle BUT i still make SURE i i've his truck,
whenever WHENEVER i, can at least once a week to
get it out and run. It some people have, said you,
(24:11):
know time heals all. Wounds it. Doesn't it absolutely. Doesn't
i'm fifteen years in and it's almost like it happened.
Yesterday this is the way it, is the way my
life is. Now you, know there's a door in front
of me with my son's name on, it And i'm
(24:36):
expecting to be able to open that door and go
and visit, him and go to sports games with, him
and go fishing with, him and just have him over
my house for a, barbecue to hold his, kids my
(24:57):
grandkids on my. Lap that's WHAT i expect WHEN i
open that. Door but WHEN i actually reach out and
open that, door it's just totally dark. Inside there will
be no barbecues in the. Backyard there will be No
Red sox, games there will be no fishing, trips there
(25:20):
will be no. GRANDKIDS i know The lord works in
very mysterious, ways AND i know that no matter who you,
are when a loved one, dies you always have that
question Why. God BUT i was actually able to answer that.
(25:40):
Question whole thing that came about from my son's, death
the fact that we now have a charity that places
flags on every grave at The National cemeterium born Every Memorial,
(26:02):
day in Every Veterans, day now placing seventy seven thousand.
Flags the fact that we were able to give out
sixteen thousand dollars in scholarship money this. Year the effect
That jared's had on so many, people especially young, people
(26:22):
throughout the entire, country indeed in some cases the. World
it seems to me That god looked down and he,
said you, Know, jared you're doing a fabulous job on that,
planet but if you come up here with, me you'll
be able to do even. More and that's what he's
(26:44):
been doing since he, passed even.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
More in a spectacular job By monty as, always and my,
goodness what a piece of storytelling From Paul monty and
gotten through. It no one should lose a. Child the
parent goes. First he wasn't just their, sergeant he, said
(27:08):
he was their. Friend he was such a good human.
Being the story Of Jared, monty the story Of Paul.
Monty here on Our American. Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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