Memorial dedicated to fallen soldier

RAYNHAM, MASS. (WPRI) -- A monument to a Massachusetts soldier who was posthumously awarded the nation's highest military decoration will be unveiled today in Raynham.

Sergeant First Class Jared Monti was killed in Afghanistan in June of 2006 while serving with the Army's 10th Mountain Division.

According to his 2009 Medal of Honor citation, Monti's patrol was attacked by as many as 50 enemy soldiers who closed to within 50 yards of his unit with machine guns and rockets; Monti organized a hasty defense but was killed while making his third attempt to reach a wounded American soldier who was out in the open.

Monti is one of only 10 servicemen to be awarded the Medal of Honor during the War on Terror - seven of those medals were awarded posthumously.

A memorial will be dedicated Sunday to Monti, a Raynham native, at the American Legion Post on Mill Street.  He was previously recognized when state officials renamed a bridge that carries Route 44 over the Taunton River in his honor last year.

Monti's father Paul spearheaded efforts to allow families of fallen veterans to place flags at the military cemetery in Bourne, a practice that had been prohibited for decades.