Captain Jennifer Moreno chose to serve as a nurse in the Army after graduating from the University of San Francisco with a nursing degree. In 2009 she completed Army Airborne training and volunteered to serve with the Special Operation Command. As a Cultural Support Team member attached to a Ranger Unit, her additional duties involved outreach to the Afghan women they encountered.
On October 5, 2013, a suicide bomber initiated an ambush in the compound the force was entering. Twelve additional blasts injured 30 Rangers and killed three. Moreno was told to stay where she was to avoid setting off any additional bombs, but chose to attempt to help a soldier trapped nearby. The move cost Moreno her life.
“Even at the end, Jenny was driven by her need to help, and the training she had as a nurse to help those in her unit at the end,” said Jessica Rea, a registered nurse at Madigan who bonded with Moreno early in her career. “We miss her and her beautiful smile.”
Moreno was posthumously promoted to captain and awarded the Combat Action Badge, Bronze Star Medal, and the Purple Heart. She was 25.
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