This afternoon, President Obama awarded Sgt. Kyle J. White, a former active-duty Army Sergeant, the Medal of Honor during a ceremony at the White House. Sgt. White received the medal for his courageous actions during combat operations in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan.
On the afternoon of November 9, 2007, Sgt. White and the 13 members of his team left a meeting in an Afghan village and headed back up a steep hill, into an area that was known as "ambush alley."
"That's when a single shot rang out," President Obama said. "Then another. And then the entire canyon erupted, with bullets coming from what seemed like every direction."
Sgt. White emptied a full magazine as his platoon returned fire against the ambush. But while reloading, an explosion from an enemy grenade knocked him unconscious. When he came to, his face was pressed against a rock — and soon after, enemy fire hit another rock close to his head, sending shrapnel and rock shards across Sgt. White's face.
Yet in the middle of this danger, Sgt. White's heroism and selflessness were made evident, as the President detailed in the rest of his remarks.
