Soldier To Get Medal Of Honor For Fighting Off Hundreds Of Taliban While Injured
Like all the soldiers of his unit MoH recipient Romesha received extensive training before heading overseas.
Members of Romesha's 3-61 "Black Knight Troop" took some group photos once they hit Afghanistan — Romesha is on the far left.
Their accommodations at the Combat Outpost were cramped and spartan. Most of the buildings would be later rocked by explosions or catch on fire.
Soldiers of "Black Knight Troop". In the background, you can see mountains all around them, with a base perimeter of "Hesco" barriers and concertina wire.
Soldiers at Keating would often patrol around the area and set up observation posts to warn of enemy activity.
Daniel Rodriguez and Clinton Romesha stand in front of a Humvee with a .50 caliber machine gun. These heavy gun trucks became huge targets on Oct. 3 as Taliban fighters continued to fire at anyone defending the base from the gun turrets.
Staff Sergeant Romesha was calm under fire throughout the battle. As recounted in "The Outpost": “This doesn’t look good,” Romesha said. “We’re all going to die.” He laughed — he had a pretty dark sense of humor, Romesha.
Romesha told his fellow soldier, "stay low and hang tight" as a sniper zeroed in on them. He then played peekaboo with the shooter, trying to draw his fire and find his position.
Romesha is humble about the award, giving much of the credit to his fellow soldiers. “We had a great team of guys."
But his citation says that his actions during the battle were absolutely critical against a superior enemy force. “His extraordinary efforts gave Bravo Troop the opportunity to regroup, reorganize and prepare for the counter-attack that allowed the troop to account for its personnel and secure Combat Outpost Keating.”
He has already received multiple awards, including the Bronze Star for valor and the Purple Heart for combat wounds.
He will be the fourth living service member awarded the nation's highest honor for action in Iraq or Afghanistan. His award will bring the total to 11 Medal of Honor recipients since 9/11.
There were a number of weapons used in The Battle of Kamdesh.
You can see some of them, with our look at The 25 Most Effective Weapons In the US Arsenal >
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