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Home Front: WoT
Hero of COP Keating battle to receive MoH
2013-02-09
A former staff sergeant who helped repel one of the largest, most vicious battles against U.S. forces in Afghanistan will receive the Medal of Honor, the White House announced Friday.

Clinton L. Romesha, 31, will be the fourth living service member to receive the nation's highest award for valor for actions in Afghanistan or Iraq. Seven other service members have posthumously been awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions in those wars. Romesha will be awarded the medal Feb. 11 at the White House.

Romesha was a section leader in B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division during the Oct. 3, 2009, attack on Combat Outpost Keating in eastern Afghanistan.

Eight American soldiers were killed and two dozen others wounded in the battle as the troop-sized element fought against an overwhelming enemy force that launched a brazen attack to overrun the COP.

The attack on COP Keating remains one of the deadliest attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan and is chronicled in the book "The Outpost" by Jake Tapper.
White House announcement is here.
Posted by:Steve White

#13  Gee, I wonder when/where/how this fine serviceman's parents came up with that first name?

Could have been named for a certain actor who played Rowdy Yates on an old TV western.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2013-02-09 22:53  

#12  Gee, I wonder when/where/how this fine serviceman's parents came up with that first name? In any case, he has now raised that name to noteworthy distinction. My deepest respect to this fine NCO.

Now, if the gears could just get unstuck in regards to the MOH process for CPT Will Swenson -
http://www.special-ops.org/swenson-moh-verdict-stalled-at-white-house-congressman/.
Posted by: Lone Ranger   2013-02-09 21:17  

#11  Maybe, I'm missing something but that doesn't seem like any way to fight a war

Same reason you put the biggest f---ing flag you can find on the mast and go steaming up the Straits of Hormuz in the middle of the day. Because you're hoping* the 'other guy' is stupid and angry enough to attack you.

*you're also hoping that the TLAMs and Harpoons are ready and aircraft from the carrier are close enough.
Posted by: Pappy   2013-02-09 20:06  

#10  Just like Dien Bien Phu. It works until it doesn't.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2013-02-09 15:23  

#9  Typical cavalry mission. Go someplace obvious, draw in craploads of hostiles, and hope you can kill enough of them to survive until the relief force gets there. We've been doing that since the Indian wars on the great plains. Such has always been the duty of "scouts" and "covering forces"
Posted by: OldSpook   2013-02-09 15:20  

#8  just looking at my spurs on the plaque on my wall over there, wondering where I stored my Stetson ... If you ain't Cav...

Scouts OUT!
Posted by: OldSpook   2013-02-09 15:16  

#7  Couldn't figure out why Outpost Keating was place where it was; basically at the low point of a bowl formed by surrounding mountains. The high ground was occupied by the enemy. The outpost was hard to get to by helicopter and by road. It seems the outpost was stuck out there and basically forgotten. Maybe, I'm missing something but that doesn't seem like any way to fight a war. The people at the outpost had a good accounting of themselves--brave soldiers.
Posted by: JohnQC   2013-02-09 15:13  

#6   Bureaucratic delay or infighting?

Yes, upper level Puzzle Place intrigues of the bureaucrats, both in uniform and out. The whole mess has been taken over by block checking managers rather than fighters. We've been at war for 10 years, how many commanders and leaders on the battlefield have been promoted without regard to 'box checking'? They've kept the "friggin" peacetime promotion system in place and the 'mother my I' award system.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2013-02-09 11:48  

#5  Look at the date in the article - October 2009. I think any MOH consideration would have been during Bumbles bumbling reign.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2013-02-09 11:21  

#4  So why didn't Bush award them sooner?

Oh ..... has it been that long?
Posted by: Bobby   2013-02-09 11:15  

#3   It is noteworthy that these are being awarded long, long after the event...

What explains that? Bureaucratic delay or infighting? Someone staging a little theater or distraction?
Posted by: SteveS   2013-02-09 11:14  

#2  It is noteworthy that these are being awarded long, long after the event...
Posted by: Pappy   2013-02-09 10:00  

#1  Should have been awarded the MOH years ago, along with a direct commission. Uncommon valor of the first order!
Posted by: Besoeker   2013-02-09 09:39  

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