Frances M. Vega

Frances Marie Vega (September 2, 1983 – November 2, 2003) was a United States Army soldier who was killed in the Iraq War. She is the first female soldier of Puerto Rican descent to have died in a war zone. In 2008, she was honored for epitomizing "the character and patriotism of the countless American Soldiers who have answered the call to defend freedom" in a ceremony that named a main gate at the Fort Buchanan Army Base in her honor.

Early life and education
Vega was born in San Francisco, California into a military family. Her father was stationed there as a member of the United States Army. After her father retired from the U.S. Army the family moved and settled in Puerto Rico where she continued her education at Antilles High School at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico and graduated in 2001.

Influenced by her military background and by the aftermath of the September 11 attacks she decided to enlisted in the U.S. Army, where she met her future husband and was married. Vega was assigned to the 151st Adjutant General Postal Detachment 3 at Fort Hood, Texas. Vega was deployed to Iraq as part of the Global War on Terrorism, serving in a combat service support role that placed her with front-line soldiers, due to the "guerrilla nature of the Iraq war," according to 1st Lt. Jenny Pittam, speaking with Stars and Stripes. Vega was also recognized in The Chicago Tribune as participating in "a new chapter for women" in military conflict, as described by Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst at the Brookings Institution, due to the nature of the Iraq war.

Death
On November 2, 2003, a surface-to-air missile was fired by insurgents in al Fallujah and it hit the Chinook helicopter that Vega was in. She was one of 16 soldiers who were killed in the crash that followed. At the time, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times reported that with 16 killed and more than 20 wounded, it was the most deadly incident since major operations in Iraq had been declared over on May 1, 2003. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Vega was "the first female Puerto Rican soldier born in the United States to die in a war zone."

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, and after the Post Office closed, a sign from the office was moved to the U.S. Army Adjutant General's Corps Museum in 2012. The Main Gate at Fort Buchanan Army Base is named the SPC Frances M. Vega gate in her honor.

Her name along with the others who have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, was engraved on the "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 P.R. National Guard Adjutant General Col. David Carrión on Memorial Day, 2007.

Vega is also listed on the 13th Sustainment Command memorial, dedicated at Fort Hood, Texas on September 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).