weeks and he was very humble. it strikes you that he didn't want to be known as a hero. he talked about what was going through his mind as the drama unfolded. >> a lot of people asked did you think you were going to die? i didn't think i was, i knew i was. i don't like the word hero. i'm the furthest thing from a hero. i will accept it on behalf of the guy who is died. >> this is the tenth medal of honor given for actions in the war in iraq and afghanistan. the third living recipient and the first marine to receive it. it was interesting because when the white house called and said you will be invited to the ceremony, he said i would like to have a beer with the president and sure enough, they released the photo. they had a beer. the white house home brewed ale we are told.

they talked it over with the president. this man who was a hero despite what he says. >> the great image there. the president with dakota. let's bring in the retired army colonel. 1969 for his service in vietnam. he was wounded by the mortar fragment that led to the safe rescue of one adviser and 13 allied soldier. your story reads like dakota's story. going in and saving others despite the hardship that you were facing. i love the quote from his grandfather. he is 81 years old. he told them the hell i'm not going in. it's a one in a million thing that he survived and the grandfather was referring to the fact that he defied orders which is not usual for a man in uniform. >> you are supposed to do what you are told unless they are immoral or illegal. something else in difficult

situations and not just confined to people who get recognized for the highest award. i think it's inherent in all soldiers. you fight for each other. nobody is going to tell you you can't take care of your comrades. anyone who was will defy orders as well. >> we should mention a 34-year-old with him was awarded the navy cross. he was from mexico. what's interesting here is that you have two officials who were reprimanded for putting lives in danger. that is the downside of this. the reprimands because of this. >> there was a call for supporting fire and the officials who were reprimanded were reprimanded for not supporting the troops on the ground. sometimes people in higher headquarters forget where they

came from and that their jobs revolve around the people who are taking fire. >> the army officers were reprimanded for being ineffective and contributing to the loss of life. >> it's very dangerous when you don't do what you were training to do and you know you are supposed to do it. you deserve to get punished for it. >> you and i talked about why there not more medal of honors awarded when we think about the numbers of men and women who fought in iraq and afghanistan and given like this young soldier while they are living. any recipient for any award will tell you there lots of people who deserve to be recognized. every medal of honor recipient like brian thwacker who was

awarded the medal, there three grieving mother whose sons were every bit as brave. >> stay with us. we will bring you the medal of honor ceremony live at 2:45 eastern time. you want to see it. a great american moment. less than an hour ago, john boehner laid out a plan to boost the economy. speaker boehner called for bipartisan action to liberate our economy from the shackles of washington. >> we have been pummelled by decisions being made in washington. they have been slammed by uncertainty from the constant threat of new taxes, out of control spending and unnecessary regulation from a government that is always micromanaging, meddling and manipulating. >> luke russert joins us from capitol hill. interesting words. liberating the economy from the

shackles of washington. with that said, it's apparent that speaker boehner at least from we heard today, there is no starting point with the jobs proposal plan. >> not much in the president's jobs plan that speaker boehner that can find a lot of support with the house of representatives. possibly an ex-pension of the payroll tax, but the real new is he calls the tax breaks of which there over 200 billion worth, the same. saying obama makes it more complex at a time it needs to be simpler. what is he doing now? there might have been the tax breaks in the past, but it needs to be larger. essentially using his speech as a pulpit to say to the super committee with $1.5 trillion. you should tackle the broad based much of tax reform. lower the personal rates and something that a lot of folks on

both sides like to accomplish. here's a kicker. that's a difficult thing to get done, much less all the way until election 2012. that's a difficult thing to say. a lot of democrats said speaker boehner is moving the goal post and saying he can't find any areas of agreement. it's interesting that the white house reacted to this in a coy way by saying president obama is going to go to cincinnati, ohio and go on this bridge he is talking about between ohio and kentucky saying this is what my jobs bill can do. a shot at boehner this he is not in the district, but a response. one funny thing in boehner's speech today. he was receiving questions from the crowd saying the speaker's job is not very fun. in fact, he can't wait to get the hell out of there. he is on a mission to make government smaller and more accountable to the people and he will not leave until he accomplishes that. still a long way to go to get

that done and get any jobs bills done. >> it's interesting that the politicians have to end my way or the highway philosophy. that's what democrats and progressives and others, say that's the notions they have taken on. >> that is the code word to get rid of this all or nothing approach as republicans say. republicans are not budging. they are going to be very few agreements. everyone who studies it knows it. the widespread ideas sound good on paper and the talking points. when it gets down to the nitty-gritty real moving the chains inside the capital and the grunt politics, there is not a lot the two sides will agree on. >> house speaker boehner made remarks hours after the department reported the number of people applying for unemployment jumped last week to the highest level in three

months. >> thanks for joining us. let me see your reaction to speaker boehner. he said what we hear from the president is nothing new. are we hearing new things from the speaker? >> we are not on the top line. he is talking about basic republican principals and lower regulation and a more fair tax code that can bring down corporate and individual rates in the future. if you listen behind that, there interesting pieces to take from it. the rhetorical battle continues and said the plan is a poor substitute for the policies you need to get america's jobs and the economy and jobs growing again. the other thing was he wanted to see tax reform done by the super committee and the super committee charged with 1.5 trillion over the next decade should be doing more. what you are getting back to is the discussion that boehner and obama were having behind closed doors when they tried to go big.

they were not able to do it. the sides prevented that deal and they are putting it in the hands of the super committee. if you listen behind the changed up rhetoric and the old saws, you are starting to hear a lot of energy and a lot of emphasis put on the super committee and of course it's rigged to work. both chambers have to if they get something done have to take it up. there is no filibuster in the senate. the bias is towards getting something done. i think they will get something done whether it's less or more than that $1.5 trillion remains to be seen. >> the president is going to travel to cincinnati ohio next thursday, but they have to get something done. you hear big ideas being put on the table and what we end up with is something that no one is happy about and perhaps doesn't move the dial when it comes to the number of people unemployed out there. >> i think that's right. i don't see anything on the

table that has an immediate impact on the jobs situation. the politicians are not equipped to do anything in the short-term to change the jobs situation. we are talking about an economy and something that is larger than the federal government itself. several factors larger than the government itself. i think what they really in a lot of ways are doing is trying to position themselves as job creators and position the other side as impeding that and hopefully find a way to do something more long-term that they can take credit for. >> thank you very much. great pleasure having you on. make sure to tune into the ed show. ed is talking about jobs, manufacturing, and what's being seen as an assault on workers. the ed show tonight at 10:00 eastern on msnbc. we have breaking news involving the death of casey anthony.

casey anthony's daughter, caylee. a judge has made the ruling of the cost of investigating caylee anthony's death. what can you tell us? >> this is interesting. you have to remember initially that casey anthony who was charged with murdering her daughter caylee was acquitted. she walked away. she was held responsible for lying to the police officers and has a probation charge. she was clear and walked away. the state decided that this had been a very expensive operation for them. first 7ing for caylee and then trying to build the case against her. they lost in court and allowed them to bill her for the cost of the investigation. they hope to recover upwards of $500,000. belvin perry, the chief judge who happened to be the judge who handled the murder trial has ruled that indeed there can be some of the costs associated with this investigation sent to

casey, but nothing to the tune of $500,000. rather she will receive a bill of close to $100,000. about $97,000 given to her from the period from july 15th when she reported that her daughter was missing up to around september 29th which is the point that the authorities realized that they were not searching for a missing child. indeed breaking news of almost 100,000 bill that will be handed to casey anthony. how she will ever raise the money to be able to pay something like that is yet to be seen. she is serving probation in florida and does not have a job. >> thank you, carrey. she has been in the hospital for five days and for the first time we are hearing from the man trapped beneath this fiery car crash. >> i thought i was going to be paralyzed at best. >> we will hear more in a few

minutes. plus, what does rick perry want from donald trump? a pricey dinner? we will take a look at their meeting and the point of it. a series of hacking targeting celebrities. if it can happen to them, how easy is it for someone to hack into your cell phone. back in three. [ male announcer ] heard this one?

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good samaritans lifted a car to drag a man to safety. a lot of people have been

waiting to hear from this guy. unbelievable rescue. >> he said when he saw the video, he couldn't believe it either. it was incredible when they pulled him out from beneath the car, he said that looks like a dead man. he said because he wanted to thank his rescuers. >> i just wanted to thank all the heroes that put their lives on the line to save mine. i'm forever in debt. i can't thank them enough. i hope they know how much they mean to me. i blakd out and came to for about five seconds under the war. i screamed a couple of times and through up some blood and it was lights up again and i woke up to a man in a green shirt just

kneeling over me and trying to get me to talk and keeping me awake and i'm lucky. whatever saved me in, i'm extremely grateful. >> said rescuers are uncomfortable being called heroes. they better get used to it because they are indeed heroes. the doctors say it will take a couple of months to fully recover, but he will buy another motorcycle and go back to riding. he was not wearing a helmet the day of his accident, but he has become a major advocate. >> for he gave any more information on exactly what happened, we see the aftermath. what happened in the first place? >> he was swerving to avoid that on coming bmw that ended up running over him. he said that at the moment of impact, he lost consciousness and he is hazy on the details of

what happened and he regained consciousness when he was under the car and that's when he was talking about screaming. >> incredible story and you look at that video over and over and you think the person pulled from beneath would not survive, but there he is and looking good considering. thank you, george. new numbers out suggest a long expected surge in home foreclosures that we talked a lot about. realty track jumped an incredible 33% from july to august. that is by the way the biggest monthly increase in four years. joining me now from washington, diana covers the real estate market for us. these numbers are staggering. >> they are staggering, but i have to say not unexpected. the robo signing foreclosure scandal slowed this process to a small and we have been saying at

some point the banks will get it in order and start the foreclosures again and that is clearly what they are doing. we saw from bank of america specifically, a huge surge in foreclosure notices of default. that is the first stage. we are not seeing it yet in the bank repossessions when they take back the house, but that is coming down as well. that will put more houses on the already bloated housing market. not a good sign. one thing that is interesting to note, while there an incredible amount of legal suits and settlement talks going on, all of this is still going on, still pending. the banks are saying we are not waiting, we are pushing the foreclosures through the system. we need to get the foreclosures processed through the pipeline out on to the market and sold to owner occupants or investors so they can recover again. >> for those who are wondering, nevada, california, and arizona

remain the states with the highest foreclosure rates and they were benefitting when a lot of homes were being sold. >> absolutely, but we are seeing big jumps locally. california is seeing a 55% jump in the start notices of foreclosure. all real estate is local. you will see it better in some places and worse in others. thank you, diana. congresswoman michele bachmann's manager is speaking out about her bid for the presidency and why bachman went too far this week. new difficulties in the effort to free two american hikers jailed in iran. we have the update for you next.

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anticipating before we see the release. shane bauer and josh fattal are there. ali is on the phone from the capital. what is the latest there? >> reporter: it's a very complex structure here and different branches of government and executives don't always get on. we have seen that many times over the years. we saw that with sarah shourd's release. we got a lot of information out of the judiciary and they made a powerful statement saying they had no right to say the two spies. they will be released in a couple of days. the decision had no right to say this. other lawmakers said iran should have asked for major consessions from the u.s. before releasing these guys. other branches of power are upset with the president.

the state department is right. they should be optimistic. i don't think this is going to take too long. it may not take the two days because they want to make a point, but it is going to happen in the meantime. we are looking at the big question here. we are asking ourselves, is it going to happen before, during, or after the assembly next week? >> live for us in tehran, thank you. >> coming up, will the state of georgia execute troy davis. davis is scheduled to be executed for murdering a police officer, but most of the witness who is testified have no recanted their story and some of them said they were coerced by police. hundreds of thousands of people signed a petition to save troy davis's life. the post office announces sweeping changes that can slow delivery perhaps of your mail. we will have the details, next. ? they're making him triple double. why? this! new triple double oreo. ♪

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welcome back to news nation. a u.s. marine is receiving a medal of honor for a remarkable act of bravery. he was sure he was going to die, but he had to rescue his friends. an inmate next week has one more hearing for clemency has more hearing say there doubts about his guilt. an fbi is investigating reports of celebrity cell phones being hacked. how can your information stay private? >> if a picture is worth a thousand words, what is rick perry hoping to get from this moment. the republican front-runner met up with donald trump in new york city. what kind of boost is he hoping to get from this moment? joining me now, news deputy director mark murray. a lot to talk about here. let's get to that.

what does rick perry want from that moment? >> he tapped into something. he was a flawed potential candidate for president and decided not to run. donald trump tapped into something that was a visceral dislike of president obama. we saw sarah palin meet with donald trump and rick perry's meeting with trump is not as impactful as the endorsements he got from bobby jindal or nevada governor brian sandoval, being able to get people on your side in what's turning interest a rick perry versus mitt romney contest, we want people to be on your side. >> is it about tabbing into an anger moment there? rick perry produced his points of why people should not support the president and he is backed by the tea party or at least some of it already. >> it is simplistic, but you are trying to see rick perry own the

tea party and own everything that donald trump and sarah palin and others have not been able to touch. he becomes the candidate for country clubs and big business and rick perry owns everything else. that's maybe what they are trying to go at. i would say overall they are bigger endorsements he wants in addition. >> he wanted everyone to see that. they did not try to keep it low key. he implied that the experience of that meeting with donald trump. michele bachmann who was on "hardball," they had comments about her and the controversy. let's play what was said. >> there is no empirical data other than a woman coming up to her. mrs. bachman is an emotional person who has great feeling for people and i think that's what she was trying to project. she would have been better if

she stayed on the issue which was the governor's executive orders and he made a mistake and she did. the quicker she admits it and moves on, the better she s. >> that's ed rollins. we have not heard congresswoman bachman admit in a manner that she made a mistake, mark. >> in that interview that was on "hardball" last night was damaging to michele bachmann. chuck todd spoke on daily run down this morning. i'm no longer the campaign manager and no longer getting paid, but giving advice. it seems as though ed rollins going on air is not bringing michele bachmann into a positive light. while it wasn't a super direct criticism, i disagree with the way her campaign is handled. that so far. great seeing you. >> the french president and

saved cameron to libya's new government. both vowed to release billions in assets. they also plan to push ahead with the nato air strikes on the strongholds of gadhafi loyalists. mike is live for us in tripoli. what else can you tell us about the visit? >> reporter: it's extraordinary while you think about it. barely three weeks since he was driven from tripoli and ben geaz. they are secure enough to have hosted the visit by heads of state since gadhafi was driven out. they were treated like rock stars in both of the cities. there was a lot of security and people can get up and congratulate them and shake their hands. they promised to release billions in frozen iraqi assets and released six billion and three countries have. there over 100 billion and it might take a un resolution to

release themselves. they this h comments from gadhafi himself. >> the message to gadhafi and those still holding arms is it is over. give up. they should go home. those who think gadhafi has any part in any part of government in this country should forget it. >> reporter: nobody knows precisely where he is. they think they have him pinned into a 150 square mile area. that is a big place. cell phone triangulation, but they don't know where he is. as long as he is unfound and in hiding and on the run, they feel he can direct an insurgency or be an inspiration in the cities that are filled with his loyalists fighting back against the troops. >> live for us in tripoli. thanks for the live report.

petitions with hundreds of thousands of names were delivered to the georgia pardons board in atlanta on behalf of a death row inmate. the naacp and other groups seeks clemency for troy davis scheduled to be executed next wednesday at 7:00 p.m. he was sentenced to die for the 1989 murder of an off duty police officer in savannah, georgia. he insisted he is innocent and there a lot of disturbing questions raised in regards to his case. joining me now via skype is columnist goldie taylor. thanks for the time here. you have an intriguing story here and quite honestly the family members of the officer who was murdered feel that the right man will die if troy davis is put to death, but his attorneys say evidence has changed the case. where are we now? >> i think today this case has

been in georgia. they said troy davis is the man that killed the officer. they never moved away that from that, but troy davis always said he was innocent. it is worth note that nearly every prosecution witness down to just one has recanted their testimony. there is a man walking free in georgia who admitted he killed the officer and admitted to several people. troy davis had been given a new trial by the stream court, but it never happened because a judge her in georgia decided there wasn't enough evidence and so this case, barring an active god before next week, he will be executed after four stays of execution over four years. >> the judge said the onerous was on him to prove his innocence. that is the complete counter of

what we know about our justice system, the burden of proof is not on the person who has been accused. it's on the prosecution. you have legal experts from around the world saying there holes in the prosecution's case. it may not say this man is innocent, but it brings up the doubt that should save his life. >> i am no lawyer, but that judge got it exactly wrong. i am backed up by former fbi director and former congressman, bob barr. conservatives like george w. bush is on troy davis's side and former president jimmy carter that. judge got it wrong. he said in his written statement that he saw doubt in the case. that is enough. >> republicans, democrats and people described as liberals who are coming in this case, we will see what happens. we will have more on this as so

many other people have been following and keep our audience up to date. great seeing you. >> good to see you too. >> for mer on the story, be sure to watch politics nation with al sharpton. we will talk to one of the minsters leading the charge to save troy davis at 6:00 p.m. only on msnbc. a grim discovery tops our looks. police found human remains not far from where a mother of two was seen. susan powell was last seen two years ago and her husband remains a person of interest in the case. the fbi reportedly paid out a $2 million reward to an unidentified woman whose tip led to the capture of james whitey bulger who was connected to 19 murders in the chicago area. a post 58 service is proposing consolidation of the mail

processing facility. 450 facilities would be cut to 200. that is a loss of 35,000 jobs. the goal is to save the postal service $3 billion. will it slow up the mail process that is already very slow? >> a swiss bank, in fact the largest is reeling after what is a road trailer cause and a loss of $3.2 billion. the traitor was arrested in london and shares dropped by 10% from that incident. live pictures from the white house. we are the first living marine is about to receive the medal of honor. dakota meyers saved the lives of 36 people and 13 were marines. we will bring you the emotional ceremony when it starts. first, there is a lot going on and things we thought you should

know. speaker boehner swore with the house of representatives, bob turner of new york and mark from nevada took the oath of office as the fellow republicans cheerd. both won special elections. their entry into the house gives republicans. i big high five from the first lady. michelle obama called their pledge to serve healthier meals a big moment. the plan to cut calories and sodium by 20% over the next decade. a strange journey for former white house party crasher salahi. she split from her husband and ran off with the guitarist from the rock band, journey. she relieved his wife is safe. he had gone on complaining because he thought his wife was kidnapped. kidnapped by love apparently.

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. coming up at the top of the hour, speaker boehner gives his response and it sounds a lot like the cent ceiling fight. sarah palin and michele bachmann are said to be whereon for the highest office. that's live. >> moments from now, marine corporal dakota myer will be awarded the nation's highest military award, the congressional medal of honor. you are looking at live pictures. the award to the corporal and lits bring back the retired army colonel. jack jacobson was awarded the award for service in his down the country in vietnam.

thanks for teeing up another ceremony. it is nice to have these, especially when -- someone is speaking right now, be we are waiting for the president. we will get your thoughts. >> the first living recipient since vietnam. we only had three living recipients in the current wars. it demonstrates how difficult it is to recognize people who have served. >> let's listen in. >> if you would, please pray

with me. almighty god, we pause to acknowledge your grace which has brought us to this momentous day. we confirm by this ceremony that in accordance with your divine guidance, our forebearers established a nation rooted in the ideals of courage and virtue. we neeld to your direction for the country even as we bestow the highest honor on dakota myer who himself sacrificed to defend its more cherished values. hear our gratitude for your honing sergeant meyers's character through the loving support of his family and countless ment overs and friends. know of our thankfulness for em bold eping this marine's spirit so when called on to preserve the safety and dignity of comrades, he was able to find it within himself to demonstrate the valor and intrepidity of his

character. for his selflessness and courage this nation is indeed exceedingly grateful. we ask that you would touch his humble spirit and he would know as the nation's highest award is draped around his neck, you encircle him with the depth of your love, acknowledging not only him, but the marines and sailors who are so much a part of his actions on that fateful day. speak to him in the privacy of his heart and assure him that as his actions are honored, you equally recognize those who demonstrated their willingness to sacrifice everything in order to uphold the ideals we honor this day. with that in mind, we pray your abiding grace on the families and friends of the marines, sailors, soldiers, air men, and coast guardsmen who have given their lives in service to this country. we lift up in prayer all those

who remain in harm's way throughout the globe. now bestow your wisdom on those who lead the nation and shape her endeavors and quite them and each of us by the examples of these our heroes who love country more than self. mercy more than life. god, bless america. in your holy name we pray, amen. >> thank you, everybody. please be seated. thank you, chaplain. good afternoon, everyone. on behalf of michelle and myself, welcome to the white house. it's been said that where there is a brave man in the thickest of the fight, there is the post of honor. today we pay tribute to an american who placed himself in the thick of the fight.

again and again and again. in so doing he earned our nation's heightest military declaration, the medal of honor. we are extraordinarily proud of sergeant dakota myer. today is only the third time during the wars in afghanistan and iraq a recipient has been able to accept it in person. we are honored to be joined by one of the other two, sergeant first class leroy petri who is here. i would point out of all the recipients in recent decades, dakota is also one of the youngest. he is 23 years old. he performed the extraordinary actions for which he is being recognized when he was just 21 years old. despite all this, i have to say dakota is one of the most down to earth guys you will ever meet. in fact when my staff first

tried to arrange the phone call so i could tell him i approved the medal, he was at work in his new civilian job on a construction site. he felt he couldn't take the call because he said if i don't work, i don't get paid. so we arranged to make sure he got the call during his lunch break. i told him the news and he went right back to work. that's the kind of guy he is. he also asked to have a beer with me. we were able to execute yesterday. dakota is the kind of guy who gets the job done. i do appreciate, dakota, you taking my call. the medal of honor reflects the gratitude of the entire nation. we are joined by member was congress and somebody from your

home state, the republican leader of the senate, mitch mcconnell. we are joined by leaders from across my administration including secretary of veterans affairs and navy secretary ray mavis and leaders from across our armed forces including the confidant of the marine corps, james amos. we are honored to welcome dakota's father, mike. his extraordinary grandparents, and more than 120 of dakota's family and friends, many from his home state of kentucky. i want to welcome his comrades in his training team 280. we are humbled by the presence of the members of the medal of honor society. dakota, i realize the past two years have not been easy. retelling the story of that day and standing here today. you are a modest young man, but as you said, you do it for a simple reason.

retelling the story because it helps you to honor those who didn't come home and remind your fellow american that is our men and women in uniform are over there fighting every day. so that's how we will do this today. it's fitting that we do so this week having just marked the tenth anniversary of the attacks that took our nation to war. because in sergeant dakota myer, we see the best of a generation that served with distinction through a decade of war. let me tell the story. i want you to imagine it's september 8, 2009 before dawn. patrol of afghan forces and their american trainers is on foot, making their way up a narrow have valley into a village to meet with elders. general all over the village the lights go out. that's when it happens. about a mile away, dakota who was a corporal and the staff

could hear it. it was as if the valley was exploding. taliban fighters were releasing a firefight from the hills and the local school. pat troll was binned down, taking fire from three sides. men were being wounded and kill and four americans, dakota's friends were surrounded. four times dakota and juan asked permission to go in. four times they were denied because it was too dangerous. one of the teachers in his high school once said when you tell dakota he can't do something, he is going to do it. as dakota said of his teammates, those were my brothers. i couldn't just sit back and watch. the story of what dakota did next will be told

and manned the gun. they were defying orders, but they were doing what they thought was right. they drove straight into a killing zone. dakota's uppered about and head exploezed from a blizzard of fire from ak-47s and machine guns. coming upon wounded afghan soldiers, dakota jumped out and loaded the wounded into the humvee, each time exposing himself to enemy fire. they turned around and drove the wounded back to safety. those who were there called it the most intense combat they had ever seen. dakota and juan would have been for given for not going back in, but as he said, you don't leave anybody behind. for a second time, they went back in and swerving to avoid the explosions. dakota when one gun jammed, he

grabbed another. going through gun after gun. they came across wounded afghans and ka dota loaded them up and brought them back to safety. for a third time they went back. insurgents running up to the humvee and dakota fighting them off. a group of americans, some wounded, were desperately trying to escape. juan wedged the hem viee into te line of fire. they helped the americans back to safety as well. for a fourth time they went back. dakota was now wounded in the arm. their vehicle was riddled with bullets and shrapnel. dakota confessed i didn't think i was going to die, knew i was. they pushed on finding the wound and delivering them to safety. for a fifth time they went back into the fury of the village and under fire that seemed to come from every window and doorway and alley. when they finally got to those trapped americans, dakota jumped

out and ran towards them. drawinglyi drawing all the enemy guns around him. he kept going until he came upon the four americans, laying where they fell, together as one team. dakota and the others who joined him knelt down and picked up the comrades and through the bullets and the smoke and all the chaos carried them out one by one because as ka dakota says that' what you do for a brother. he will accept it in their name. michael johnson, the husband and father they called gunny j. edwin johnson, the marine who fought to get on the team, staff sergeant aaron -- the medic who gave his life 10inging to his teammates. and a soldier wounded in the

battle who never recovered. sergeant first class kenneth westbrook. i know you grappled with the grief of that day and you said that your efforts were somehow a failure because your teammates didn't come home, but as your commander in chief and on behalf of everyone here today, i want you to know it's quite the opposite. you did your duty above and beyond and you kept the faith with the highest traditions of the marine corps you love. because of your honor, 36 men are alive today. because of your courage, four fallen american heroes came home. in the words of jane layton's mom, they can lay their sons to rest with dignity. because of your commitment in the thick of the fight, hour after hour, a former marine who read about your story said you showed how in the most desperate final hours our brothers and god will not forsake us. because of your humble example, our kids especially back in

columbia, kentucky and small towns across america will know no matter who you are or where you come from, you can do great things as a citizen ands a member of the american family. there in lies the greatest lesson of that day and the truth that our men and women in uniform live out every day. i was part of something bigger, dakota has said. part of a team that worked together, lifting each other up and working towards a common goal. every member was as important as the other. so in keeping with dakota a wishes for this day, i want to ask now gunnery sergeant rodrigo chavez and all those who served with dakota, the marines and army and navy to stand and accept the thanks of a grateful nation.