because don sloat was determined to serve his country. am, don became known as one of the most liked and reliable guys in his company. twice in his first months, his patrol was ambushed. both times, don responded with punishing fire from his machine gun, leaving himself completely vulnerable to the enemy. and both times, he was recognized for his bravery. or as don put it in a letter home, i guess they think i'm really gung ho or something. [ laughter ] and then onee:÷ morning, don a his squad set out on patrol, past that rice paddy, down that trail, when those shots wrapping out. when the lead soldier's foot tripped that wire and set off the bobby trap, the grenade rolled right to don's feet. and at that moment, he could have run. at that moment, he could have ducked for cover. but don did something truly extraordinary. he reached down and he picked that grenade up and he turned to throw it, but there were americans in front of

may god watch over don sloat and all those who have sacrificed for our country. god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform, veterans like bennie adkins. may god continue to bless the united states of america. at this point, i'd ask our chaplain to return to the stage for the benediction. >> let us continue to pray. >> as you go forth, be not afraid. have courage. hold on to what is good. fear no evil, for evil -- support the weak and help the suffering. and we honor all people. let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us. remain with us always. amen. >> and at this point, i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family and the adkins family for a reception. i hear the food is pretty good. and once again, to all of you who serve and your families point, i would who serve along with them. the nation is grateful. and your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much, everybody. [applause] >> next, who filmmaker ken burns talks about his new documentary on the roosevelts. after that, a discussion on the challenges facing america

on behalf of this american family, i'd ask don's brother, dr. bill sloat, to come forward for the reading of the citation and accept the gratitude of our nation. >> the president of the united states of america, authorized by act of congress, march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to specialist domentd pvment p. sloat. he distinguished himself through acts of gallantry above and beyond the call of duty while sevening as a mn gunner, company b, 1st infantry re rry regiment. during combat operations in armed enemy in the republic of vietnam on january 17, 1970. on that morning specialist's squad, served as a blocking patrol. as the squad moved up a small hill in file formation, the lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade booby trap set up by enemy forces. as the grenade rolled down the hill, specialist sloat knelt and picked up the grenade. after initially attempting to throw the grenade, specialist sloat realized detonation was imminent. he pulled it to his body, shielding his squad members from the blast, savin

because don sloat was determined to serve his country. ietnam don became known as one of the most liked and reliable guys in his company. twice in his first months his patrol was ambushed. both times don responded with punishing fire from his machine gun, leaving himself completely vulnerable to the enemy. and both times he was recognized for his bravery. or as don put it in a letter home, i guess they think i'm really gung ho or something. and then one morning don and his squad set out on patrol, passed that rice paddie, down that trail, shots rang out. when the lead soldier's foot tripped that wire and set off the booby trap, the grenade rolled right to don's feet. and at that moment he could have run. at that moment he could have ducked for cover. but don did something truly extraordinary. he reached down and picked up that grenade. he went to throw it but there were americans in front of him, behind him, inside the kill zone. so, don held onto

sloat, united states army. specialist donned p. distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the rick of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with company d, 2nd battalion, 1st enfantry regiment, 196 light infantry brigade during combat operations against an armed enemy in the republic of vietnam on january 17th, 1970. on that morning, specialist sloat's squad was conducting a patrol serving as a blocking element in support of tanks and armored personnel carriers in the area. as the squad moved up a small hill in pile formation, lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade booby-trap set up by enemy forces. as the grenade rolled down the hill, specialist sloat knelt and picked up the grenade. after initially attempting to throw the grenade, specialist sloat realized that detonation was imminent. he then drew the grenade to his body and shielded his squad members from the blast saving their lives. specialist 4 sloat's actions defined the ultimate sacrifice of laying down his own life

because don sloat was determined to serve his country. don became known as one of the most liked and reliable guys in his company. twice in his first months, his patrol was ambushed, both times don responded with punishing fire from his machine gun, leaving himself completely vulnerable to the enemy. both times he was recognized for his bravery. or, as don put it in a letter home, i guess they think i'm really gung ho or something. then one morning, don and his squad set out on patrol, past that rice paddy, down the trail when the shots rang out. when the lead soldier's foot tripped that wire and set off the booby trap, the grenade rolled right to don's feet. at that moment he could have run. at that moment he could have ducked for cover. but don did something truly extraordinary. he reached down and picked that grenade up. he turned to throw it, but there were americans in front of him and behind him. inside the kill zone. don held onto the grenade and pulled it close to his body and he bent over it. as one of the men said, all of the sud

on behalf of this american family, i would ask don's brother, dr. bill sloatto come forward for the reading of the citation and accept the gratitude of our nation. >> the president of the united states of america, authorized by act of congress, march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to specialist 4 donald p. sloat, united states army. specialist donald p. sloat, above and beyond the call of duty, while serving as machine gun we are company d, second battalion, first infantry regiment, 196 light infantry brigade, americaal division, during combat operations against an armed enemy(]ggárq republic of vietnam on january 17, 1970. on that morning, specialist 4 sloat's squad was conducting a patrol, serving a a blocking element in support of tank and armored personnel carriers in the area. as the squad moved up a small hill and in file formation, the lead soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade bobby trap set up by enemy forces. as the grenade rolled down the hill, specialist 4 sloat knelt and picked up the grenade. after ini

may god watch over don sloat and all those that sacrificed for our country and may god keep safe those who wear the uniform and veterans like bennie adkins and may god bless the united states of america. at this point i ask our chaplain to return to the stage for our benediction. >> let us continue to pray. as you go forth be not afraid. go into the world in peace, have courage hold onto what is good and strengthen the feign hearted. we honor all people. let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us, remain with us always. amen. >> and at this point i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family and the adkins family for a reception. i hear the food is good. the nation is grateful. your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much, everybody. [ applause ] >> incredible. we have sat and watched a lot of these u.s. medal of honor ceremonies at the white house in recent years and they have been younger service men, many of whom who have been awarded these medals of honor but to see this man from alabama getting this award 48 years later after serving so brave

may god watch over don sloat and all those who have sacrificed for our country. god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform and veterans like bennie adkins and may god continue to bless the united states of america. at this point i'd ask our chaplain to return to the stage iv the benediction. >> let us continue to pray. as we go forth be not afraid. have peace and courage and honor what is good. return no evil for evil to strengthen the fainthearted support the weak and helpless suffering. we honor all people. let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us and remain with us always, amen. >> and at this point, i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family and the atkins family for a reception. i hear the food is pretty good. and once again, to all of you who serve and your families who serve along with them, the nation is grateful. and your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much everybody. [applause] [applause] b i really didn't expect to spend the day watching tv, but i caught the end of the key west program and started

may god watch over don sloat and all those who have sacrificed for our country.ay god keep safe those who wear our country's uniform and veterans like bennie adkins and may god continue to bless the united states of america. at this point i'd ask our chaplain to return to the stage iv the benediction. >> let us continue to pray. as we go forth be not afraid. have peace and courage and honor what is good. return no evil for evil to strengthen the fainthearted support the weak and helpless suffering. we honor all people. let us love and serve and may god's blessing be upon us and remain with us always, amen. >> and at this point, i would welcome everybody to join the sloat family and the atkins family for a reception. i hear the food is pretty good. and once again, to all of you who serve and your families who serve along with them, the nation is grateful. and your commander in chief could not be prouder. thank you very much everybody. [applause] >> tomorrow at noon eastern our campaign 2014 coverage continues with a debate between texas governor candidates. this i

sloat's brother would told me a lot about don.ound, as all young brothers did, wanted to do exactly everything his older brother did. enlisted in the army because he wanted to do his bit. and the interesting thing is, as you discussed, the story was that he got -- he stepped on a booby trap. but his mother didn't believe that. in her heart, she knew that wasn't the case. tracked down -- >> how? how did -- i mean, did she just -- >> she just knew. bill said she just knew that that wasn't the case. she had a feeling that wasn't. when she wound up talking to all of his comrades who were still surviving, discovered, in fact, he had grabbed the hand grenade that had been thrown in their midst and threw himself on. i think one or two of those guys will be there today at the -- and some of major atkins' mates will be there too. there was another medal of honor awarded for his action, as a matter of fact, to an air force officer, a pilot who just died a couple years ago. came in. landed in the middle of the air strip to pull his wounded w