Emily Jazmin Tatum Perez (19 February 1983 – 12 September 2006) was an American military officer. After graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Second Lieutenant Perez was serving in the Iraq War when she was killed in action by an improvised explosive device. She became the first black female officer in U.S. military history to die in combat and the first female graduate of West Point to die in Iraq.
Early life and education
Perez was born in
Heidelberg,
West Germany, in a U.S. military family. Her mother was African-American and her father was Afro-Latino
Puerto Ricans.
As a child, she became fully fluent in German.
When she was in tenth grade, her parents relocated to
Maryland. She graduated from Oxon Hill High School, where she ranked among the top 5% of students in her class.
United States Military Academy
In July 2001, Perez entered the United States Military Academy, where she was a member of the class of 9/11.
At West Point, she was an exemplary student and talented track athlete. Perez set school records as a sprinter, led the school's gospel choir and started a dance squad.
At West Point, she was given the nickname "Taz" by her classmates for her energy and short stature, at only .
Upon graduation, Perez held the second highest rank in her senior class.
As brigade command sergeant major, she became the highest-ranking minority woman cadet in West Point history.
Iraq deployment
Following graduation in 2005, Perez was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the 204th Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division of the United States Army based at Fort Hood, Texas.
In December 2005, Perez was deployed to Iraq as a Medical Service Corps officer. Prior to deployment, she donated bone marrow to a stranger.
Death
September 12, 2006, Perez volunteered to lead a platoon when she was killed after a makeshift bomb exploded near her
Humvee near
Najaf.
Perez was killed instantly.
Emily Perez was the first black female officer to be killed in action in United States military history
Perez was buried with full military honors at the West Point Cemetery.
Honors and legacy
| Bronze Star Medal |
| 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 |
Lieutenant Perez's military awards include the Bronze Star;
Purple Heart; Army Commendation Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Iraq Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; and the Combat Action Badge.
She posthumously received the NCAA Award of Valor in 2008.
After her death, the 4th Infantry Division dedicated the Emily Perez Treatment Facility at Forward Operating Base Kalsu in her honor, and named a street, Emily’s Way, after her.
Exhibitions
Emily Perez's class ring, Bible and saber from West Point are now exhibited in the National Museum of African American History.
Her identification tags, desert cap, and desert camouflage coat are exhibited in the National Museum of the United States Army.
See also
-
Megan McClung, first female United States Marine Corps officer killed in combat during the Iraq War, and the first female graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy to be killed in action.
External links
-
Partlow, Joshua and Lonnae O'Neal Parker, "West Point Mourns a Font Of Energy, Laid to Rest by War", The Washington Post, 27 September 2006
-
Faces of the Fallen: 2nd Lt. Emily J. Perez, The Washington Post
-
West Point Graduate Is First of 'Class of 9/11' to Die in Combat, Reuters via Los Angeles Times, 27 September 2006
-
Death Comes Calling For the Class of 9/11, Time, 1 October 2006
-
Memorial program (PowerPoint), medicalservicecorps.amedd.army.mil]
