Marine Sergeant to Receive Medal of Honor

[longknife]

Does this man sitting beside his wife appear to be a full-fledged hero?

Well, he's scheduled to receive America's highest military honor Feb 11, 2013 from his Commander-in-Chief. To learn more, go to One Marine's View: Staff Sgt. Clinton L. Romesha, Medal of Honor Recipient -see it live today!

 

[Warrior102]

He's Army

 

[longknife]

He's Army

Wow! Do I feel like a fool.

I got this from a Marine blog and ASSumed he was a Jarhead. I had to re-read all the down the article to see you were right!

 

[Warrior102]

Quite the brave guy. A little crazy - but braver than hell !!

Congrats to him and his family.

 

[waltky]

Obama presents Medal of Honor to Clinton Romesha...

Clinton Romesha gets Medal of Honor for Afghan fight
11 February 2013 - US President Barack Obama has presented the Medal of Honor to a former soldier for his heroism during a huge firefight in Afghanistan.

Former Staff Sgt Clinton Romesha, 31, led a battle against hundreds of Taliban fighters four years ago. About 50 US soldiers were at Combat Outpost Keating near Pakistan when it was almost overrun by insurgents. He is the fourth serviceman to receive America's highest military award for action in Iraq or Afghanistan. The father-of-three lives with his family in Minot, North Dakota, and works in oil-field safety. According to the Army's official narrative, at about 06:00 on 3 October 2009, some 400 Taliban fighters targeted Combat Outpost Keating in Kamdesh District, Nuristan Province, while many key US officers were off base.

Peppered with shrapnel

The outpost was surrounded on four sides by insurgents who had occupied the high ground and began to attack with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), mortars, heavy machine-gun fire and small-arms fire. Sgt Romesha is said to have frequently exposed himself to withering enemy fire as he led the fightback. He killed a team of machine-gun fighters, and was peppered with shrapnel when an RPG landed close to his position. Ignoring his wounds, Sgt Romesha then killed more enemy fighters, including a nest of machine-gunners and a sniper. He then killed three Taliban fighters as they were breaching the outpost's perimeter.

Former Staff Sgt Clinton Romesha was recognised for his leadership and bravery

Sgt Romesha also led a team to secure an ammunition supply point and then turned his attention to defending a vulnerable entry point. From there, he was able to pinpoint the origin of enemy fire at a nearby village, Urmul, and at an Afghan National Police checkpoint that had been seized by the insurgents. According to the official narrative, he helped to direct air support and 120mm mortars to target the enemy positions. Finally, Sgt Romesha helped wounded troops to withdraw to a safe location and recovered the bodies of two soldiers who died in the attack.

Eight US soldiers were killed and other 22 were wounded, including Sgt Romesha. The official citation says that Sgt Romesha personally killed 10 Taliban fighters and was instrumental in the deaths of another 35. Last month, after learning he would get the award, he told a news conference: "You're not going to back down in the face of adversity like that. We were just going to win, plain and simple."

BBC News - Clinton Romesha gets Medal of Honor for Afghan fight

See also:

Army veteran Romesha receives Medal of Honor for Afghan fight
February 11, 2013 - Former Army Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha says he had just one thing on his mind the 12-hour firefight that destroyed Combat Outpost Keating. “I just didn’t want to let my brothers down,” he said.

Former Army Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha says he had just one thing on his mind during the 12-hour firefight that destroyed Combat Outpost Keating. “I just didn’t want to let my brothers down,” he told Stars and Stripes. “I just relied on my training, remembered our lessons learned, and kept fighting for them.” On Monday, the 31-year-old North Dakota resident became the fourth living recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan, a recognition of his bravery that day.

Army officials say Romesha risked his own life multiple times during the fight to fend off enemy fighters, resupply his fellow soldiers and protect wounded comrades. In attendance at a White House ceremony were veterans from the 2009 battle and families of the eight men who died that day. Romesha paid tribute to those fallen friends after the ceremony, and President Barack Obama recognized the loss each represented to the team and the country. “You can ask Clint and any of the soldiers here today, and they’ll tell you that, yes, they fight for their country, they fight for our freedom, yes they fight to come home and for their families,” he said. “But most of all, they fight for each other, to keep each other safe and have each others backs.”

The 2009 ambush on the Army post was one of the deadliest battles for U.S. forces in the Afghan War, and it still holds raw emotions for Romesha. “I lost four men just from my platoon, so I see this as a way to help keep their memories alive,” he said last month shortly after learning he’d receive the honor. “This is not an individual award for me, because it wasn’t an individual effort.”

MORE

 

[Warrior102]

Jesus - I'd rather have Bill Clinton put that on me.
Obama.

What a fucking Chickenhawk, Warmongering Chump.

 

[Katzndogz]

What he did deserved the medal. Too bad he didn't show the same courage in receiving the medal and refuse to appear with obama.

 

[Oldguy]

You Obamaphobe Nutter's are the lowest form of slime.

Even a magnificent soldier receiving our nations highest honor for valor isn't sacred to you. Even that is nothing more than an excuse for one more idiotic, juvenile cheap shot at the President of the United States.

Your faces should be red with shame, but I'm sure they're not.

 

[Zona]

Jesus - I'd rather have Bill Clinton put that on me.
Obama.

What a fucking Chickenhawk, Warmongering Chump.

Shut the fuck up. I feel so good about this story and your here to piss on it.

Fuck you.

God bless you SSGT. Kick ass!

 

[Zona]

I remember one time at the tower I saw a MOH winner boarding/flying on one of our birds. (A c-9) He was Space A I guess but there was no way he could ever get bumped...lol

I dont know why but I swear I almost cried and I dont even know why. He was very calm and humble but I spoke with him and felt proud to have shook his hand.

 

[Katzndogz]

You Obamaphobe Nutter's are the lowest form of slime.

Even a magnificent soldier receiving our nations highest honor for valor isn't sacred to you. Even that is nothing more than an excuse for one more idiotic, juvenile cheap shot at the President of the United States.

Your faces should be red with shame, but I'm sure they're not.

I have had my face red with shame. When my father, a WWII vet died last year I got a commendation in the mail signed by obama. I was so ashamed of that signature I threw it out. Sorry now that I didn't burn it. Obama isn't fit to shine my father's shoes.

If this soldier has any real character and integrity he would have left obama alone on that stage with his thumb up his ass. That doesn't mean he didn't deserve the medal. It means he should have rejected the indignity of having obama bestow it.

 

[gallantwarrior]

You Obamaphobe Nutter's are the lowest form of slime.

Even a magnificent soldier receiving our nations highest honor for valor isn't sacred to you. Even that is nothing more than an excuse for one more idiotic, juvenile cheap shot at the President of the United States.

Your faces should be red with shame, but I'm sure they're not.

I have had my face red with shame. When my father, a WWII vet died last year I got a commendation in the mail signed by obama. I was so ashamed of that signature I threw it out. Sorry now that I didn't burn it. Obama isn't fit to shine my father's shoes.

If this soldier has any real character and integrity he would have left obama alone on that stage with his thumb up his ass. That doesn't mean he didn't deserve the medal. It means he should have rejected the indignity of having obama bestow it.

It just proves that this soldier has more class, more honor, more decency than obama could ever imagine having.

 

[Katzndogz]

You Obamaphobe Nutter's are the lowest form of slime.

Even a magnificent soldier receiving our nations highest honor for valor isn't sacred to you. Even that is nothing more than an excuse for one more idiotic, juvenile cheap shot at the President of the United States.

Your faces should be red with shame, but I'm sure they're not.

I have had my face red with shame. When my father, a WWII vet died last year I got a commendation in the mail signed by obama. I was so ashamed of that signature I threw it out. Sorry now that I didn't burn it. Obama isn't fit to shine my father's shoes.

If this soldier has any real character and integrity he would have left obama alone on that stage with his thumb up his ass. That doesn't mean he didn't deserve the medal. It means he should have rejected the indignity of having obama bestow it.

It just proves that this soldier has more class, more honor, more decency than obama could ever imagine having.

Real class would have been to walk off the stage. When obama was addressing gold star parents one of the fathers showed real class by refusing to shake his hand. That was class.

 

[waltky]

Once out of the military, family comes first...

Medal of Honor recipient declines State of the Union invite
February 14, 2013 - The Army veteran presented Monday with the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama made the unusual decision to decline the invitation of the first lady to sit beside her during the president's State of the Union address Tuesday night in Washington.

According to Capt. Dan Murphy of the North Dakota National Guard, who accompanied former Staff Sgt. Clint Romesha to Washington this week, the quiet hero gave up his box seat to history for reasons similar to why he quit the Army after nearly 12 years: his family and friends. Tuesday was the 13th wedding anniversary of Romesha and his high school sweetheart, Tammy, who made the trip with him to Washington. She and their three children are the reason he left the Army in 2010, he said last month.

Romesha was honored Monday with the nation's top military medal for valor for his leadership in an all-day battle in 2009 at a remote outpost in northeast Afghanistan. He clearly doesn't enjoy the spotlight and says the Medal bestowed on him is about the soldiers he served with, eight of whom died that day. "It's such a great honor to be invited to the State of the Union," Romesha, 31, told CNN. "I really feel bad about not being able to go. But a lot of these guys I haven't seen a really long time and I'd like to hang with them just a little bit more." "I've done some soul searching," he said. "As much as a great honor it would be to be a guest of the first lady, it's also kind of hard to break away from the friends and the family and all the great guys here" from Black Knight Troop, who came to Washington to see Romesha honored. "I just need to spend a little more time with them."

And he said he wanted to focus on his family. Capt. Murphy returned to Bismarck Wednesday, but he said Romesha still has a busy week in New York: "A bunch of media stuff," including National Hockey League games, a meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and an interview with TV talk show host Rachael Ray. Since moving to Minot, the Romeshas, both California natives, have become a big hockey fans and their oldest daughter is skating, they said last month.

Source

See also:

Navy SEAL who reportedly shot bin Laden meets with lawmakers to discuss veterans’ benefits
February 13, 2013 —The Navy SEAL who reportedly killed Osama bin Laden met with lawmakers about veterans’ benefits this week after Esquire reported that he didn’t qualify for a pension or family health care and that his disability claim remained unresolved.

The unidentified SEAL retired four years earlier than the Navy’s 20-year threshold that would have guaranteed him a pension and his family lifetime health care. He does, however, qualify for five years of health care for himself. In the profile, the SEAL said he killed bin Laden with two bullets to the forehead. He also said bin Laden appeared to be using his wife as a shield as he tried to get to a gun.

The SEAL’s disability claim is reportedly caught up in a backlog with about 900,000 veterans who must wait, on average, more than nine months for a decision. “The fellow who killed Osama bin Laden is one of many people who are having these problems,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said Wednesday. He declined to go into detail about meeting the shooter, who has been worried about al-Qaida retaliation. “He is one of 900,000 and he deserves justice, and those 900,000 deserve justice too,” said Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. He plans to hold hearings about the disability backlog, calling it “my highest priority.”

The Center for Investigative Reporting co-published the SEAL’s profile, written by Phil Bronstein, the center’s executive chairman. CIR said on its website that the SEAL it called “the Shooter” met with nine lawmakers from both parties Tuesday, along with a contingent that included Bronstein, representatives of Esquire and the SEAL’s former mentor. Esquire editor David Granger reported in a blog post that the SEAL told each legislator about the government’s “lack of action” in providing protection for his family and that “the Shooter and the members of the group accompanying him presented the legislators with a three-part proposal for easing the transition out of the military for elite forces that would require no legislation.”

Those requests included a tiered pension plan that would begin after five years of duty, improved transition services for retiring veterans that include 18 months of total family healthcare, and departure pay based on length and type of service, according to Granger. “It went really well,” the SEAL told Bronstein, who attended the meetings as a journalist, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting. “I think we raised awareness. Now it’s just a question of acting.” The SEAL left after 16 years because he got “burned out” and no longer got an adrenaline rush from gunfights, he told Bronstein. “I wanted to see my children graduate and get married.”

Bronstein had erroneously reported that the SEAL got “nothing” from the government in retirement. In fact, all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans qualify for five years of health care. Bronstein’s report drew grumbles from officials in the Navy and the Department of Veterans Affairs. By Wednesday, Esquire had corrected its article. The magazine also dialed back an attack it made in a blog post against a Stars and Stripes reporter who had questioned the story’s health care assertion. With lawmakers’ attention, the government’s benefits for special forces soldiers falls under a harsh spotlight. Gawker’s Tom Scocca, who criticized Esquire’s handling and framing of the story, wrote, “It does seem stupid and indefensible that this is our national policy—that after years and years in the most dangerous combat zones, constantly risking physical and mental health, a SEAL should have to clock his full 20, same as a deskbound clerk.”

Source

 

[Warrior102]

Jesus - I'd rather have Bill Clinton put that on me.
Obama.

What a fucking Chickenhawk, Warmongering Chump.

Shut the fuck up. I feel so good about this story and your here to piss on it.

Fuck you.

God bless you SSGT. Kick ass!

Since when did Liberals start admiring Veterans, Soldiers, Americans?

Don't you have a soldier to spit on, a war protest to participate, a flag to burn?

Go fuck yourself.

 

[Zona]

Jesus - I'd rather have Bill Clinton put that on me.
Obama.

What a fucking Chickenhawk, Warmongering Chump.

Shut the fuck up. I feel so good about this story and your here to piss on it.

Fuck you.

God bless you SSGT. Kick ass!

Since when did Liberals start admiring Veterans, Soldiers, Americans?

Don't you have a soldier to spit on, a war protest to participate, a flag to burn?

Go fuck yourself.

I am a vet you dumb ass. I mean seriously you are a dumb ass.

 

[Warrior102]

I am a vet you dumb ass. I mean seriously you are a dumb ass.

A vet of what?

 

[Oldguy]

Jesus - I'd rather have Bill Clinton put that on me.
Obama.

What a fucking Chickenhawk, Warmongering Chump.

Shut the fuck up. I feel so good about this story and your here to piss on it.

Fuck you.

God bless you SSGT. Kick ass!

Since when did Liberals start admiring Veterans, Soldiers, Americans?

Don't you have a soldier to spit on, a war protest to participate, a flag to burn?

Go fuck yourself.

This liberal will match combat records with you any day of the week.

I've got one of these. Do you, blowhard?

 

[Gracie]

Back to the OP....congrats to a very brave man.

 

[Warrior102]

This liberal will match combat records with you any day of the week.

I've got one of these. Do you, blowhard?

If handed a rifle, you wouldn't know which end of the tube the round comes out of, poser