Emily Jazmin Tatum Perez
Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army

Emily Jazmin Tatum Perez was born in Heidelberg, West Germany, into a U.S. military family of African American and Hispanic parents. After graduation from Oxon Hill High School in Oxon Hill, MD, where she ranked among the top-10 students in her class, she entered the U.S. Military Academy in July 2001. An exemplary student and talented track athlete, she became the highest-ranking African-American female cadet in the history of West Point by reaching the rank of Cadet Command Sergeant Major.

Upon graduation from West Point in 2005, she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps and assigned to the 204th Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, U.S. Army. In December 2005, 2LT Perez and her unit were deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On 12 September 2006, 2LT Perez was leading a convoy through Al Kifl, near Najaf, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near her Humvee. She died of her injuries.

2LT Perez was the 1st female graduate of West Point to die in the Iraq War, the 1st West Point graduate of the "Class of 9/11" to die in combat, and the 1st female African-American officer to die in combat.

Medals, Awards and Badges

Bronze Star Medal (Merit)
Purple Heart
Army Commendation Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Iraq Campaign Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Army Service Ribbon
Army Overseas Service Ribbon
Combat Action Badge

Burial

Second Lieutenant Emily Jazmin Tatum Perez is buried at the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery in West Point, Orange County, NY, in Section XXXVI, Row B, Grave 064F.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15773991/emily-jazmin_tatum-perez