WEYMOUTH, MASS. (WHDH) - A Weymouth man who received the military’s highest honor for making the ultimate sacrifice was honored with a memorial in his hometown Sunday.
Thirty-year-old Army Sgt. Jared Monti died in Afghanistan in 2006 trying to save one of his fellow soldiers who was injured when the unit was ambushed by the Taliban. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Paul Monti, Jared’s father, said his son was always looking out for the people in his command.
“He would do anything for his soldiers, his boys. And that’s what he called them,” Paul Monti said. “He would ask that the medal be given to all the guys that he served with. That’s who he was.”
Paul Monti and others honored Jared at Shea Memorial Grove Park in Weymouth, where a plaque in remembrance of Jared was unveiled.
“It’s just wonderful to see the local community come out to honor a local hero, a legitimate local hero,” said Marc Frattasio of ANA Patriot Squadron, which maintains the park.
“This is what we do here on the South Shore,” State Sen. Patrick O’Connor told the crowd. “And I’m so incredibly proud of all of you being out here today. This is an amazing crowd to honor an American hero.”
Paul Monti said he was proud to see his son honored but that a father’s grief knows no time.
“I’ve never been able to put him to rest. It’s been one thing after another,” Paul Monti said. “And every time there’s another event such as this it’s another reminder — ‘Hey, your son is dead.’ I don’t want my son dead. I want my son back.”
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