sergeant ryan pitts, who a -- who has humbly insisted that his remarkable actions in the battle of wanat were simply his duty. that it was and always will be out of loyalty to his unit. we acknowledge that same devotion came from the legacy of a faithful family, someone who cared for him, supported and prayed for sergeant pitts and symbolized it in the flag that we joined every day. our hearts together as honor the soldier whose we continued to be respected for his deeds every day. we honor him today for the courage and commitment of all who serve in harm's way. this we pray in your holy name, amen. >> good afternoon, everybody. welcome to the white house. please be seated. for forces in afghanistan, the battle of wanat was one of the most fierce of this entire war. 48 americans, along with the -- their afghan partners were manning their small base deep in the valley when they were attacked by some 200 insurgents. those insurgents seemed determined to overrun and even -- an even smaller posts just inside the base, an elevated patch of boulders and sandbags defended by just nine american

i ask all of those who served at wanat the police stand -- to p lease stand. [applause] most of all, ryan says he considers this medal immemorial for the guys who did not come home. we honor non-american -- nine american soldiers. the son who absorb the love like a sponge, the expected father whose dream would come true -- a beautiful baby girl. specialist sergio. who dominated soccer field and fell in love of motorcycles and took a direct hit in the helmet and kept fighting. corporal ayers. whose beautiful pictures captured the spirit of the afghan people and wrote to his family that afghanistan was exactly where he wanted to be. corporal jason. the father who loves surfing with his son, and platoon leader who led a dash to the gunfire to reimburse his men. first lieutenant jonathan. an immigrant from mexico became a proud american soldier during his third tour and his final thoughts were of his wife. sergeant israel garcia. a young man of deep faith to serve god and country and could always get a laugh of the impersonation of his commander. colonel jason. th

wanat, one report later concluded, had significant vulnerabilities.arts of the village sat on higher ground. on every side, mountains soared 10,000 feet into the sky. heavy equipment to help build their defenses was delayed. in the 100-degree heat, the soldiers ran low on water. and the aerial surveillance they were counting on was diverted away to other missions. early that morning in the predawn darkness, they spotted several men up the mountains. before ryan and his team could take action, the entire valley erupted. machine gunfire and mortar and rocket-propelled grenades poured down from every direction. those 200 insurgents were firing from ridges and from the village and from trees. down at the base, a vehicle exploded, scattering its missiles back at our soldiers. it was, said a soldier, hell on earth. up at their tiny post, ryan and his team were being pounded. almost instantly every one of them was wounded. ryan was hit by shrapnel in the arm and both legs and was bleeding badly. already three american soldiers in that valley had fallen and t

wanat, one report later concluded, had significant vulnerabilities.parts of the village sat on higher ground. on every side, mountains soared 10,000 feet into the sky. heavy equipment to help build their defenses was delayed. in the 100-degree heat the soldiers ran low on water. and the aerial surveillance they were counting on was diverted away to other missions. early that morning, in the pre-dawn darkness, they spotted several men up the mountains. but before ryan and his team could take action, the entire valley erupted. machine gun fire and mortar and rocket-propelled grenades poured down from every direction. and those 200 insurgents were firing from ridges and from the village and from trees. down at the base, a vehicle exploded, scattering its missiles, back at our soldiers. it was, said a soldier, hell on earth. up at their tiny post, ryan and his team were being pounded. almost instantly, every one of them was wounded. ryan was hit by shrapnel in the arm and both legs and was bleeding badly. already, three american soldiers in that valley ha

nine of these men were will killed when the enemy attacked their base in wanat in july 2008. >> it wasintense fight i had ever been in. it seemed like fire was coming from everywhere. >> sergeant ryan pitts was wounded in the opening fuselage. >> how badly are you breeding. >> my biggest concern was a wound in my inner thigh on my right leg so then i crawled to the southern fighting position and bogar put a tourniquet on my leg. >> jason bogar who was killed a short time later kept pitts from bleeding to death. but the situation described by an apache legal copter pilot was desperate. >> i think they're pinned down good. i don't think they want to lift their heads. >> as shown in this army recreation, pitts was manning an observation post above the main base at wanat. the enemy was so close, he had to let his grenades koch off before he through them. >> so that the enemy couldn't pick it up and throw it back because it was so close. i didn't want to give them a chance to pick it up. >> you would activate the grenade and count to 3 or 4. >> yeah. >> and then lob it. what happens if you

shown in this army re-creation, pitts was manning an observation pouft post above the main base of wanat enemy was so close he had to let the grenade cool off before he threw them. >> i didn't want to give them a chance to pick it up. >> reporter: you'd activate the grenade and then count three or four? >> yeah. >> reporter: what happened if you got a short fuse? >> they would detonate in my hand. >> reporter: when pitts ran short of grenades he went on with a machine gun. suddenly there was an awful silence all around him. >> i thought everybody was dead. i thought i was the only one there. >> reporter: and you were? >> i was. >> reporter: you're all alone. you're wounded and the enemy is how close? >> close enough that they could hear me when i was talking on the radio. >> reporter: four soldiers rushed to his aid but they were all cut down. one of them israel garcia was mortally wounded. >> i just held his hand and we talked for a little bit. he wanted me to tell his mom and wife that he loved them. >> reporter: and the enemy backed down 30 meters of pitts. and finally beat the enemy

. >> as shown in this army recreation pitts was manning an observation post above the main base at wanaty was so close he had to let his grenades cook off before he through them. >> so that the enemy couldn't pick it up and throw it back because it was so close i didn't want to give them a chance to pick it up. >> you would activate the grenade and count to 3 or 4. >> yeah. >> and then lob it. what happens if you get a short fuse. >> it would detonate in my hand. >> and pitts ran low on grenades he fought on with a machine gun. suddenly, there was an awful silence all around him. >> i thought everybody was dead. i thought i was the only one there. >> an you were. >> i was. >> you're all alone. you are wounded. and the enemy is how close? >> close enough that they could hear them when i was talking on the radio. >> four soldiers rushed to his aid but they were all cut down. one of them israel garcia was mortally wounded. >> i just held his hand and we talked for a little bit. he wanted me to tell his mom and wife that he loved them. >> the apaches laid down fire within ten meters, about 3

as commander in chief, i believe one of the ways we can do that is by heeding the lessons of wanat.hen this nation sends our troops into harm's way, they deserve a sound strategy and a well-defined mission, and they deserve the forces and support to get the job done, and that's what we owe soldiers like ryan. and all of the comrades that were lost. that's how we can truly honor all those who gave their lives that day. that's how as a nation we can remain worthy of their sacrifice. i know that's a view that is shared by our secretary of defense, and by our joint chiefs of staff and all the leadership here. they're hard lessons, but ones that are deeply ingrained in our hearts. it is remarkable that we have young men and women serving in our military who day in, day out, are able to perform with so much integrity, so much humility and so much courage. ryan represents the very best of that tradition, and we are very, very proud of him as we are of all of you. so god bless you, ryan. god bless all who serve in our name. may god continue to bless the united states of america. and with th

forces in afghanistan, the battle of wanat was one of the most fierce of this entire war. 48 americans, along with their afghan partners were manning their small base deep in a valley when they were attacked by some 200 insurgents. soon, under the relentless fire all nine of these men were wounded or owe killed. insurgents broke through the wire. medal post was on thefalling. against that onslaught, one american held the line. just 22 years old, nearly surrounded. bloodied the soldier we recognize today with our nation's highest millary declaration. the medal of honor. staff sergeant ryan pits. i don't want to embarrass ryan but the character he dismayed was cheerily forged early. >> when he was in fifth grade his teacher sent home a note who saying ryan is a very special human being. you see the loyalty that defines america's men in uniform. he says it's not mine alone. it belongs everybody there that day because we did it together. i want to welcome those who were there that day or those who will be welcoming him into their ranks. we are very proud of them. we welcome ryan's family m

of the 173rd airborne brigade combat team was assigned to set up a new outpost, in the village of wanatnt ryan pitts, then 22 years old, and nearing the end of his second tour in the country, had already seen a lot of combat when his team started the operation. >> this was in the valley, very close to the village, basically kind of integrated among the village somewhat by the river. it, wasn't the low ground, but there's always a balance between accessibility and security that we try to strike in terms of being able to support and reinforce and get supplies via ground. >> woodruff: did you and your unit feel extra vulnerability because of where you were? >> our entire battalion had been facing enemy attacks all year long for that entire deployment so i don't think, i certainly didn't feel any more vulnerable there than i did any other point in my deployment. >> woodruff: on a ridge to the east of the main base, sergeant pitts and others manned a surveillance system, seen here in a photo taken on july 12. just after four the next morning, their situation took a dramatic turn. >> it start

six years ago this month, pitts' battalion kept insurgents from overtaking a key american post in wanatd, pitts was hit by shrapnel. for the next hour and a half, he crawled from position to position firing machine guns and tossing grenades. he got to a working radio and provided crucial feedback for reinforcements. the u.s. lost nine soldiers that day. msnbc military analyst colonel jack jacobs is a med doll of honor recipient, and he sat down with pitts and his wife to talk about the honor. >> anything different about that night? >> hindsight is 20/20. >> it certainly is. >> the only thing i remember being different was that morning. we had generally been seeing people move out to the fields, to work the fields early in the morning. that morning they weren't. >> how soon after the attack began were you wounded yourself? >> it was in the initial barrage of rpgs and hand grenades that i was wounded. there wasn't really any pain, but i knew i had been hurt pretty bad because i tried to move my legs and couldn't move my feet at all. my biggest concern in the moment was just trying to gain

the soldiers building a sandbag observation post overlooking a larger base set up in the village of wanatdent obama described what happened next. >> insurgents broke through the wire. and that little post was on the verge of falling, giving the enemy a perch from which to devastate the base below. against that onslaught, one american held the line. >> reporter: pitts was that one american. although he doesn't see it that way. >> nine guys died so the rest of us could come home. and valor was everywhere. everybody was fighting as hard as they could. and i don't think anybody, you know, no man fought harder than any other. >> reporter: apache helicopter followed overhead described the desperate situation. >> i think they're pinned down good. i don't think they want to lift their heads. >> reporter: suddenly pitts realized he was the only one still firing. >> i thought everybody was dead. i thought i was the only one there. >> reporter: and you were? >> i was. >> reporter: the fire from apache gunships finally broke the enemy attack. but you could see the american dead lying where they had f

it was really the question do you see the great body wanat and i appreciated i yield back. >> thank you and mr. o'rourke for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman and i would like to thank the panel is for their service and mr. goldstein the american legion and mr. britain to set up a command center to connect veterans there with health services like those we are talking about today as well's benefits and by every measure most important way in talking directly with veterans it was very successful so i want to thank you and i want to thank dr. mccarthy. she mentioned the mobile vet center and other resources that are being directed to el paso all of which i think should tell us that we have a problem in el paso that we are now belatedly trying to correct into six. during that time when especially access to mental health care was so problematic i had the opportunity to meet a young veteran named nick and his mom bonnie who came to a town hall meeting at mine. nick was having a hard time accessing mental health care services at the el paso va and shared that with me and my team but also