View Video Bryan, Texas-- Bryan's first female firefighter became the oldest female soldier killed in action since the War on Terror began. Sergeant First Class Meredith Howard, 52, died when a car bomber slammed into her humvee near Kabul, Afghanistan last Friday. Howard graduated from Texas A&M in 1978, and joined the Bryan Fire Department the same year. She was a Civil Affairs Sergeant assigned to the 364th Civil Affairs Brigade out of Portland, Oregon. Republished with permission of KCENTV.