Over the last 10-plus years, there have undoubtedly been countless acts of heroism in Iraq and Afghanistan, but only a select few have been deemed worthy of the Medal of Honor. Last week President Barack Obama announced that another soldier would receive the medal. Former Army Staff Sgt. Clinton L. Romesha will become the fourth living recipient of the Medal of Honor from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan when he is presented with the medal on February 11, reports Army News Service.
Romesha earned his Medal of Honor during an intense firefight at Combat Outpost Keating on October 3, 2009. The soldiers awoke that morning to find themselves surrounded by an estimated 300 enemy fighters. Under heavy fire, Romesha neutralized an enemy machine gun team, and even when a rocket-propelled grenade hit him with shrapnel, he kept fighting. Not only did his efforts help turn back enemy forces, but he also assisted wounded troops and braved enemy fire to recover soldiers who had been killed.
“I thought it was great,” his father, Gary Romesha, told NBC News. “But I’m more thankful he is able to receive it on his own and it’s not given to us after he is dead.”
When he is given the Medal of Honor, Romesha will become the the 10th recipient from the two wars. In 2011, the Medal of Honor was given to Dakota Meyer, a Marine who was credited with saving 36 lives during a 2009 ambush in Afghanistan.