Frances M. Vega

SPC Frances M. Vega, also known as "That Girl Benitez" (September 2, 1983 – November 2, 2003), was the first female soldier of Puerto Rican descent to die in a combat zone in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Early years
Frances M. Vega (maiden name: Frances Marie Benitez) was born into a military family. Her father was a member of the United States Army stationed in San Francisco, California where Vega was born. After her father retired from the army the family moved and settled in Puerto Rico where she continued her education at Antilles High School and graduated in 2001.

Military service
Influenced by her military background and by the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks she enlisted in the Army. Here 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 in what is known as the War on Terrorism. On November 2, 2003, a surface-to-air missile was fired by insurgents in Al Fallujah and it hit the U.S. Chinook helicopter that Vega was in. She was one of 16 soldiers who lost their lives in the crash that followed.

SPC Frances M. 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.

Legacy
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 perished in Afghanistan and Iraq, was engraved in "El Monumento de la Recordación" (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 Kenneth McClintock and PR National Guard Adjutant General Col. David Carrión on Memorial Day, 2007. The 1st gate at Fort Buchanan Army Base was named the SPC Frances M. Vega gate in her memory.

Vega is also listed on the 13th Sustainment Command memorial, dedicated at Fort Hood, TX on Sept 17, 2010. She is listed #4 of 106 total names of the soldiers who served with the 13th Sustainment Command (formerly known as the 13th Corps Support Command).

Awards and recognitions
Among SPC Frances M. Vega's decorations and medals were the following:


 * Bronze Star ribbon.svg Bronze Star
 * Purple Heart BAR.svg Purple Heart
 * National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg National Defense Service Medal
 * Global War on Terrorism Service ribbon.svg Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
 * Iraq Campaign ribbon.svg Iraq Campaign Medal