Ashley Laine Henderson-Huff was born December 19th, 1982, in Covington, Louisiana. She grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and graduated from Montgomery High School in Belle Mead, New Jersey in 2000. She had enjoyed living in the South and chose to attend the University of Georgia, where she was a member of the Sigma Kappa Sorority.
After the 9/11 attacks, Henderson-Huff joined the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps at her college, telling her roommates that if the country were to go to war, she would join the war effort. She was commissioned as an officer when she graduated college in May 2004 and served as a platoon leader in the 549th Military Police Company, 385th Military Police Battalion, Fort Stewart, Georgia.
First Lieutenant Henderson-Huff was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in December 2005. She played a key role in strengthening the local police force, in both expertise and size, and in developing the Erbil Police Academy. She called her husband, to whom she was married only four months prior, whenever she could. The couple dreamed of buying a home together when she returned from deployment. Her husband, Brian Huff, said, “All she wanted to do was come home. We had so many plans and hopes and dreams for the future.”
On September 19th, 2006, the day she first set foot at the future site of the police training center in Erbil, First Lieutenant Henderson-Huff was killed in action in Mosul, Iraq when a nearby vehicle-borne improved explosive device detonated. She was 23. She was survived by her husband, her parents, her brother, and her sister. First Lieutenant Henderson-Huff awards include the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and the Combat Action Badge. In 2018, Montgomery High School honored her with the dedication of 1st Lt. Ashley Henderson-Huff Memorial Drive near the entrance of the school.
Brian Huff said of his late wife, First Lieutenant Henderson-Huff, “She was always so strong, the strongest person I have ever met. I feel she is helping me get through this right now.” Her parents emphasized her leadership and positivity; her father, Mark Henderson, said, “She was a happy person, a good leader. She was very caring about her soldiers, well respected by them and by her commanding officers.” Her mother, Janet Henderson, said, “Ashley was a born leader. She never took one day for granted and lived her life with a magnificent purpose.”
First Lieutenant Henderson-Huff is buried at Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens, Georgia.
Sources:
https://news.va.gov/114646/veteranoftheday-army-ashley-l-henderson-huff/
https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/army-1st-lt-ashley-henderson-huff/2132745
https://www.travismanion.org/fallen-heroes/1lt-ashley-henderson-huff-usa
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15854031/ashley_laine-huff
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