Cover three wounded americans made their escape including a grievously injured stephan mace. But more americans, their bodies were still out there. And Clint Romesha lives the soldiers creed, i will never leave a fallen comrade. So he and his team started charging as enemy fire poured down. And they kept charging, 50 meters, 80 meters, ultimately 100 meter run through a hail of bullets. They reached their fallen friends and they brought them home. Throughout history, the question has often been asked, why . Why did those in uniform take such extraordinary risks . And what compels them to such courage . You ask kleine aclint and many soldiers here today, and theyll tell you, yes, they fight for their country and they fight for our freedom. Yes, they fight to come home, to their families. Most of all they fight for each other, to keep each other safe and to have each others backs. I called clint to tell him he would receive this medal, he said he was honored, but he also said it wasnt just me out there, it was a team effort and so today we also honor this american team, including those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Private first class kevin thompson, who would have turned 26 years old today, Sergeant Michael scusa, Sergeant Joshua kirk, Sergeant Christopher griffin, Staff SergeantJustin Gallegos, Staff Sergeant vernon martin, Sergeant Joshua hardt, specialist stephan mace. Each of these patriots gave their lives looking out for each other in a battle that waged all day that brand of selflessness was displayed again and again and again. Soldiers exposing themselves to enemy fire, to pull a comrade to safety, tending to each others wounds, performing buddy transfusions, giving each other their own blood. If you seek a measure of that day, you need to look no further than the medals, ribbons that grace their chests. For their sustained heroism, 37 Army Commendation medals. For their wounds, 27 purple hearts. For their valor, 18 bronze stars. For their gallantry, nine silver stars. These men were outnumbered, outgunned, and almost overrun. Looking back, one of them said im surprised any of us made it out. But they are here today. And i would ask these soldiers, this band of brothers, to stand and accept the gratitude of our entire nation. There were many lessons from cop keating. One of them, our troops should never, ever be put in a position where they have to defend the indefensible. But thats what these soldiers did for each other, in sacrifice driven by pure love. And because they did, a grieving family was able to welcome their soldier home one last time and more soldiers are alive today to carry on, to keep alive the memory of their fallen brothers, to help make sure that this country that we love so much remains strong and free. What was it that turned the tide that day . How was it that so few americans prevailed against so many is we prepared for the reading of the citation, ill leave you with the words of clint himself. Because they Say Something about our army and they Say Something about america, they Say Something about our spirit, which iwill never be broken. We werent going to be beat that day, clint said. Were not going to back down in the face of adversity like that. We were just going to win. Plain and simple. God bless you, Clint Romesha. And all of your team. God bless all who serve and god bless the United States of america. With that, id like the citation to be read. The president of the United States of america, authorized by act of congress, march 3rd, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to Staff Sergeant clinton l. Romesha, United States army for conspicuous gallantry at the risk of his live above and beyond the call of duty. Staff Sergeant Clinton l. Romesha distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Section Leader with bravo troop 3rd squadron 61st cavalry regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division against an armed enemy at outpost keating, afghanistan, on october 3rd, 2009. On that morning, Staff Sergeant romesha and his comrades awakened to an attack by an estimated 300 enemy fighters occupying the high ground on all four sides of the complex employing concentrated fire from rifles, rocket propelled grenades, antiaircraft machine guns, mortars and small arms fire. Staff Sergeant Romesha moved uncovered under intense enemy fire to conduct a reconnaissance of the battlefield and seek reinforcements from the barracks before returning to action with the support of an assistant gunner. Staff Sergeant Romesha took out an enemy Machine Gun Team and while engaging a second the generator he was using for cover was struck by a rocket propelled grenade, and inflicting him with shrapnel wounds. Undeterd by his injuries, Staff Sergeant romesha continued to fight and upon arrival of another soldier to aid him and the assistant gun, he rushed through the exposed avenue to assemble a additional soldiers. Then mobilized a fiveman team and returned to fight equipped with a sniper rifle. With complete disregard for his own safety, staffer Sergeant Romesha continually exposed himself to heavy enemy fire, as he moved confidently about the battlefield engaging and destroying multiple enemy targets, including three taliban fighters who had breached the combat outpost perimeter. While orchestrating a successful plan to secure and reinforce key points of the battlefield, Staff Sergeant romesha maintained Radio Communication with a Tactical Operations center. As the enemy forces attacked with even greater ferocity, unleashing a barrage of rocket propelled grenades, Staff Sergeant romesha identified the point of attack and directed air support to destroy over 30 enemy fighters. After receiving reports that seriously injured soldiers were at a distant battle position, Staff Sergeant romesha and his Team Provided covering fire to allow the injured soldiers to safely reach the aid station. Upon receipt of orders to go to the next objective, his team pushed forward 100 meters under overwhelming enemy fire to recover and prevent the enemy fighters from taking the bodies of their fallen comrades. Staff Sergeant Romeshas heroic actions throughout the day long battle were critical in suppressing the enemy that had far greater numbers. His extraordinary efforts gave bravo troop the opportunity to regroup, reorganize and prepare for the counterattack that allowed the troop to account for its personnel and secure combat outpost keating. Staff Sergeant Romeshas discipline and extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty reflect great credit upon himself, bravo troop 3rd squadron 61st cavalry regiment 4th Brigade Combat Team 4th Infantry Division and the United States army. Let us pray. Today almighty god we gathered to give recognition to spirit the made our country great, a willingness to give totally of ourselves and even into death. For the great blessings of being a part of this country, for the honor and example of Staff Sergeant romesha brings to our lives we give you thanks. He was led to our army for a few short years, we were deeply blessed by his presence, as his ancestors inspired his service, he inspired generations to Greater Service and devotion. In your strength, we protect others, in your providence, may we be kept safe, and may we turn our hearts towards you each and every day. We ask this and pray in your holy name, amen. Well, thank you, everybody. Most of all, thank you for clint and the entire time for their Extraordinary Service and devotion to our country. Were going to have an opportunity to celebrate and theres going to be a wonderful reception. I hear the food around here is pretty good. I know the band is good. And colin really needs to get down. So enjoy, everybody. Give our newest recipient of the medal of honor a big round of applause once again. Colin, the little son of Clint Romesha who is obviously very precocious, very excited and emotional ceremony of the medal of honor, only the fourth living medal of honor awarded for a member of the u. S. Military fighting in afghanistan and, i believe, iraq as well. Jake tapper is here. Jake, you wrote a powerful book on this struggle in which Clint Romesha played such a Critical Role and we see the president now meeting with some family members of those who didnt necessarily make it out of that battle. Your book tells the story. What do you think . You spent a lot of time with Clint Romesha. Jake, tell us what you think was going through his mind as we heard all of these words. Just one other point before we get to that, the president right there saying hi to the son of Justin Gallegos and the daughter of josh kirk, two men who did not make it back. The white house making a point of making sure the president would meet the children of the eight men who were fallen. But to answer your question, wolf, Clint Romesha is has been all weekend very uncomfortable with the attention. He is not one who seeks the limelight. He is the quintessential soldier who talks about how he did this for his buddies and he didnt do anything other than his job and he still is haunted by the eight men who did not make it out of combat outpost keating. He understands and recognizes the importance of the ceremony in American History and military history and also how important it is for the other men of black knight troop to see their experience acknowledged by the government and appreciated by the government, but hes not a big fan of all the fanfare for him. It looked like at one point he was really holding back some tears as the president was recounting what happened on that battle back and you described it in vivid details. But is he an emotional young man like that . Hes not emotional. Hes actually quite the opposite. Hes a quintessential archetype cowboy from the west there. He lives in north dakota and hes somebody who is laconic and keeps his emotions to himself. But recounting what happened that day, the men who followed his lead, running into danger, and the eight men who he was not able to save, that nobody could have saved. He is tough on himself. And he still thinks about them and hes still haunted by their loss. That battle was october 3rd, 2009. He left the army in 2011. What does he do now . He worked as an oil field Safety Specialist for an Oil Field Company out in north dakota. His sister and her husband live out in north dakota, advised that it was a good, honest job. Theyre still getting used to. Theyre from california, clint and his high school sweetheart, now wife, now mother of his three children, theyre californians. So theyre still getting used to winter in minot, north dakota, which, as i learned firsthand a few weeks ago is rather chilly. But they are putting their life back together after clints 11 plus years in the army, continually deployed overseas, kosovo, iraq twice, then afghanistan. And one of the questions i asked clint was, what happens what was going through your mind that night, after you and the other american troops had pushed back the taliban . What was going through your mind, eight men dead, more than 20 wounded. He said, back to work. We still had more than nine months left in our deployment, got to focus on the next job at hand. Thats Clint Romesha. Thats so Many American fighting men and women we have serving for us. You prepared a powerful one hour documentary on Clint Romesha that aired over the weekend here on cnn. It was entitled American Hero, the uncommon valor of Clint Romesha and you spent time with him this weekend and some of his army buddies as well. They were all coming into town and it was going to be very fancy, the white house event, the pentagon event. And i figured the least i could do as somebody who they had been so nice to me in writing this book, they spent hours with me telling their stories, the least i could do is throw them a reunion. So we had a little get together with some pizza and beer and wings and there was some revelry as one might expect with somebody said to me, open bar with a bunch of troops, youre a brave man. Im certainly not a brave man. But in any case, it was a lot of fun and fun for the troops to see each other after two years away, after they got back from the deployment. Well done. And excellent book, the outpost, an untold story of american valor. Let me show it to our viewers. I think people want to get more information, this is the place to get it in this very thick, long book, well done. Thank you. You know, there are a lot of brave troops and their stories arent told enough by any of us in the media. And so this was a small attempt to rectify that. Thank you very much. And our thanks to Clint Romesha and all the young men who were there that day and were at the white house right now, enjoy something fine food. Probably better than the wings we had the other night. Maybe not. If you like wings and beer, pizza, thats good stuff. Jake, thanks very much. So our coverage, a lot of other news going on. Our coverage continues in the cnn newsroom with Brooke Baldwin. Thank you, guys. A stunner in the Catholic Church. Benedict is the first pope in 600 years to leave on his own will. So the question is, whos next . Im Brooke Baldwin. The news is now. He says he wants revenge on the lapd. Now as this excop remains on the run, Police Announce theyre looking into his firing. Plus, yet another navy s. E. A. L. Breaks his silence about the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. But this time, its the guy who shot the worlds most wanted terrorist. My panel weighs in. And some nights i call they are arguably the hottest band in music right now. Do you still feel like youre dreaming or has it hit you, your success . And you will hear my behind the scenes chat with grammy winners fun. [ lisa ] my names lisa, and chantix helped me quit. I honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didnt think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. It reduces the urge to smoke. It put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. 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