Posted on 06/23/2014 6:05:54 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A soldier who kept fighting despite grenade shrapnel wounds to the legs and arm in the controversial battle of Wanat in Afghanistan will receive the Medal of Honor, the White House announced Monday.
Former Army Staff Sgt. Ryan M. Pitts, who was medically discharged in 2009, will be the ninth living recipient of the Medal of Honor from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. President Obama will present him with the nation's highest award for valor at a White House ceremony on July 21.
Pitts will receive the MOH for his actions while serving as a Forward Observer with 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. The battle took place at Vehicle Patrol Base Kahler in the Waygal Valley near Wanat Village in northeastern Kunar Province, Afghanistan.
Last month, Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to another soldier from the 503rd Regiment, 173rd Airbrone Brigade – former Sgt. Kyle J. White.
In 2010, former Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, who also served with the 503rd Regiment of the 173rd, received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley in 2007. Giunta was the first living recipient of the MOH since the Vietnam War....
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
Airborne.
Barry has finally found something he can do that makes him appear “presidential”.
Handsome kid.
.
BTTT!
Pitts' MOH will be the 16th for the "Sky Soldiers" of the 173rd Brigade since its formation and deployment to France in World War I
SSgt Pitts will also be the 16th American fighting man to be awarded the Medal of Honor in the Afghanistan/Iraq wars.
How is this brave solider to get the slime off of this well deserbed M.O.O. metal after the worlds greatest liar has had his slimy hand touch it?
How conflicted a man must be who earns the medal of honor and has to receive it from Obama, in my opinion a traitor to this country.
MOH
Either the Bush administration was too stingy on giving out the MOH, or the Obama administration is too loose with the criteria. Bush awarded it to five men, all posthumously. Three leapt on grenades, one manned a gun when already wounded and kept firing to his death so American wounded could be evacuated, and one exposed himself to almost certain death to call for help for his team mates. In short, the MOH was only given in the Bush administration to those who knowingly sacrificed their lives for their buddies.
The Obama administration gives the award who take the risk of death to help the cause. All in all, maybe that’s a better standard, since we need some living heroes. But still, the MOH was so rare under the Bush administration that the ceremonies and recognition were awe-inspiring. This is one of those rare cases where prefer Obama’s approach, but it’s a very close call.
 |
 |
 America demands Justice for the Fallen of Benghazi! |
 |
 |
great Crusader patches on the ammo pouches
I love it ! There needs to be a new Crusade
led by real modern day Crusaders , like this guy
Ready ? let’s roll
Guess you didn't have anyone fighting in that valley - dubbed 'The Valley of Death", huh? The 173rd - took 80% of the fighting in the whole country - and, percentage wise, the dying.
They were in, literally, hundreds of firefights - day in day out - and stuck out on tiny little firebases that they pickaxed out of the mounaint tops - that were so remote - and lacking things like running water, hot food, showers, a chair to sit on - humping up and down the Hindu Kush Mts, sent out on patrols deliberately to 'draw the enemy out" - i.e., Judas Goats -
Don't even get me started.
A suggestion - watch Sebastian Junger's movies "RESTREPO" and the new one making he theaters no "KORENGAL"
this soldier was in one of the most horrific battles of the war - and they fought the whole day, vastly outnumbered - and were given NO AIR COVER
Who the hell are YOU to denigrate any of these men by suggesting that, since they didn't die, that maybe they're getting the MOH too easily.
Unless you were hanging by the phone, or waiting for messages otherwise - or had spent months on end Thanking god every day and every night that one of YOUR loved ones made it one more day in that hell hole - knowing what was really going on there...Then just maybe you shouldn't opine.
the most decorated unit in the ARMY 173rd, 2nd-503 AIRBONRE
They take the brunt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtycoVADp1U
If you read my whole post rather than latch on to a single sentence, you’ll see that I said I agreed with the Obama administration’s policy and the awarding of these MOHs. My conclusion was that Bush hadn’t awarded enough MOHs.
Huzzah’s to the troop in question but we all know that the Ahole-in-Chief does this mostly to get his mug in front of a camera in a pic with a bonafide hero.
Makes me proud to have once served with the 173rd Abn - Viet Nam 1966 (Which explains my Freeper name)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.