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TACOMA, WASH. — In her last moments of life, Army nurse Capt. Jennifer Moreno heard two orders.

One was a call to help a wounded soldier struck by a blast in a booby-trapped killing field at an Afghanistan bomb-making compound.

The other was a command to stay put lest she strike another mine in the bomb belt.

The nurse from Madigan Army Medical Center chose to help the wounded soldier, and gave her life trying.

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In the words of her commander, Moreno ran "into hell" to rescue a comrade on the night she was killed. Newly released narratives of the Oct. 5 battle reveal the kind of hell Moreno and dozens of Army special operators found while trying to disrupt a plot to kill civilians in the city of Kandahar.

A total of 12 bombs exploded that night — a chain reaction that took the lives of four U.S. soldiers and wounded at least 25.

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The fifth bomb killed Moreno, 25, of San Diego who volunteered for a dangerous assignment supporting special operators in combat.

The 11th bomb wounded three soldiers trying to recover her body.

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Moreno "sacrificed her life so others could live," her Bronze Star commendation reads.

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The News Tribune previously reported Moreno's death and covered her memorial service at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. But her award commendation, which the newspaper obtained recently, sheds more light on that chaotic day, and on the heroic steps that were taken to honor the Soldiers Creed: "I will never leave a fallen comrade."

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Her Bronze Star commendation uses dry, formal military language to describe the decision she faced.

"Disregarding her own well-being," it reads, "Moreno unhesitatingly moved to assist (the soldiers) upon realizing the severity of the wounds sustained by her fellow teammates."

"While in transit, Moreno detonated Device No. 5 and was killed in action."

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Few could make the same choice.

"None of us would have done what you did, running into hell to save your wounded brothers, knowing full well you probably wouldn't make it back," the commander of Moreno's female Special Operations support team in Afghanistan, Capt. Amanda King, later wrote in a eulogy.

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U.S. Army through its Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest, or MAVNI is a recruiting program that allows certain legal, non-U.S. citizens with critical language and culture to enlist in the Army.

Tagalog speakers is one of the 44 strategic languages the Army is recruiting for. Once in the ten-week program, the soldier gets expedited citizenship processing.

Twenty-seven year old specialist Christian Albert De Leon became a US citizen in just three months, bypassing the lengthy green card process.

"Sa ngayon mas maliwanag po ang nakikita ko sa aking pamilya," said De Leon.

"They’re trying to bring in more culture from other countries to make the US military stronger," said Giessen Cruzado, a US Army graduate.

Twenty-six year old Cruzado came to the US on an F-1 student visa in 2005. He became a US citizen in just two months after being accepted in the Army through the MAVNI program. He also graduated under the commander’s list for being a model soldier.

Both men who plan to become Army officers in the future said they were inspired by the recent achievement of Capt. Ronald Ravelo, the first Filipino-American commanding officer of aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

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During a routine inspection at a hangar, Corporal Michael Bangit, an Air Reservist and Aviation Technician with 402 "City of Winnipeg" Squadron, checks the edges of a propeller on a CT-142 Dash-8 (nicknamed "Gonzo").

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GUAM – One of the few females holding a high-ranking position in the United States Navy is a Filipino.

Born in Hawaii to Filipino parents, US Navy Rear Admiral Bette Bolivar was raised in a traditional Filipino family.

“Ang tatay ko ay taga Bicol at ang nanay ko ay taga Pangasinan (My father is from Bicol and my mother hails from Pangasinan),” Bolivar told The STAR in fluent Filipino.

Bolivar came from humble beginnings, the second of four children of Teddy Sereno Bolivar and Virginia Dolor Bolivar. Her father joined the US Navy as a steward and retired as a chief petty officer after 22 years in the service.

The first woman to assume the position of Commander Joint Region Marianas, Bolivar also holds the distinction of being the first female commander of Navy Region Northwest.

She is also the first woman to hold a number of other important positions. She is the US Defense Representative for Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau, and Commander of Naval Forces Marianas.