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SPC Frances M. Vega, also known as That Girl Benitez (September 2, 1983-November 2, 2003) in San Francisco, California, was the first female soldier of Puerto Rican descent to die in a combat zone.
Early years
Frances M. Vega was born into a military family. Her father was a member of the U.S. Army and was stationed in California where Frances 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 2000.
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.[1]
SPC Frances M. Vega was buried in the Puerto Rico National Cemetery located in the city of Bayamon, Puerto Rico with full military honors and was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star Medal 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 perished in Afghanistan and Iraq, will be engraved in "El Monumento de la Recordacion" (Monument of Remembrance), dedicated to Puerto Rico's fallen soldiers and situated in front of the Capitol Building in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Awards and Recognitions
Among SPC Frances M. Vega's decorations and medals were the following:
Bronze Star Medal
Purple Heart Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Iraq Campaign Medal
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