© 2024 Public Radio East
Public Radio For Eastern North Carolina 89.3 WTEB New Bern 88.5 WZNB New Bern 91.5 WBJD Atlantic Beach 90.3 WKNS Kinston 88.5 WHYC Swan Quarter 89.9 W210CF Greenville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
US

Battle Survivor Receives Medal Of Honor

With his wife Amy watching, Ryan Pitts walks on the stage to talk with reporters in Concord, N.H., last month. (Jim Cole/AP)
With his wife Amy watching, Ryan Pitts walks on the stage to talk with reporters in Concord, N.H., last month. (Jim Cole/AP)

Nine American soldiers died in the Battle of Wanat in 2008. But according to his commanding officers, more men would have been killed if not for the actions of Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts on that day in Afghanistan.

Pitts fought back while badly wounded when hundreds of Taliban fighters attacked Operation Topside, which the soldiers were building in Waygal Valley.

Pitts’ actions, they say, turned the tide of the battle and today at the White House, President Obama will drape the Medal of Honor around his neck.

Pitts, who was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, now lives in Nashua, New Hampshire. He is the ninth living recipient of the nation’s highest military honor. Seven men have been honored posthumously.

Guest

  • Ryan Pitts, retired Army sergeant who will receive the Medal of Honor for his bravery in the War in Afghanistan.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

US