Army nurse died helping others

As a nurse, San Diego native Jennifer Moreno was trained to help people in need. Just as she lived, she died in Afghanistan three years ago as she was coming to the aid of fellow soldiers.

Moreno, a Bronze Star recipient who is interred at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, has been remembered by family, friends and others for her courage, strength and spirit.

She was a 25-year-old first lieutenant helping with a special operations mission when she and three other troops were killed by improvised explosive devices in Kandahar City on an October night in 2013.

An Army narrative about the mission described how the 5-foot-2 nurse disregarded her own well-being in an attempt to rescue soldiers injured in the heavily booby-trapped compound.

For her valorous actions, Moreno was posthumously promoted to captain.

Born in Logan Heights in 1988, Moreno attended San Diego High School, where she was a member of the Junior ROTC. An Army scholarship paid for her way into the University of San Francisco, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing.

Susan Prion, Moreno’s faculty adviser at the University of San Francisco, described Moreno as “the epitome of no muss, no fuss” and someone who put her head down to finish what needed to be done.

After joining the Army, Moreno completed airborne training in 2009 and the Army Medical Department Officer Basic Course in 2010.

She was assigned to Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, where she served as a clinical staff nurse on a medical surgical unit.

But she wanted to do more and make an even greater impact. In an interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune last year, Prion said Moreno was motivated to help people, which she believed she could do by becoming an Army officer.

More stories of honor

Moreno volunteered for the Army Special Operations Command Cultural Support Team, which is composed of women attached to the 75th Ranger Regiment whose role was to talk with Afghan women in situations where their culture prevented them from speaking to men.

On the night of Oct. 6, 2013, she and other troops went on a mission to capture a person the military described as a high-value target.

The Military Times reported that soldiers inside a compound ordered people staying in the target’s home to come out. An Afghan woman walking out of the compound detonated a suicide vest, killing herself and wounding six troops.

The explosion detonated an IED, and a third went off after it was hit by two soldiers rushing to help troops injured by the first blast.

An Afghan insurgent running from the building detonated another suicide vest, killing himself and a military working dog named Jani.

The ground commander told all soldiers to stay where they were, but Moreno responded to a staff sergeant’s call to help a wounded soldier. She didn’t make it back out.

She was one of four soldiers killed by IEDs at the compound. Also lost were Sgt. Patrick Hawkins, 25; Sgt. Joseph Peters, 24; and Pfc. Cody Patterson, 24.

About 30 troops were injured in the attack. The Army later reported that the mission stymied an attack that would have resulted in the deaths of many innocent civilians. Besides the Bronze Star, Moreno was posthumously awarded the Combat Action Badge, Meritorious Service Medal, Purple Heart, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and NATO Medal.

Moreno was the first female combat casualty laid to rest at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery since the post-9/11 wars began.

Her university alma mater has a memorial to her that displays replicas of her medals, a plaque, her photo, a written account of her last battle and a folded American flag.

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com