CMOH Recipient, Clinton Romesha, tells the story behind his heroic actions in Afghanistan, which that eventually lead to him being awarded our nations highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor. This was an amazing event full of raw and real emotion. Originally shown live from the Center for American Values in Pueblo, Colorado.

In the words of President Abraham Lincoln any nation that does not honor Its heroes will not long endure rarely Does the community have the Extraordinary opportunity to hear from An American hero who embodies all that Is great about America and who displayed Uncommon valor in the face of Overwhelming odds Clint is the bravest Of the brave ladies and gentlemen please Give a warm welcome to an American hero And Patriot Clint romesha It’s truly an honor and a privilege to Be back here here enough Pueblo at this Amazing center I mean you can just look Around to a quick 360 and tell your You’re in the presence of greatness all These photos on the wall these portraits These heroes these men of just Phenomenal stature I grew up in a tiny Little town in northern california and When I say tiny I get to brag that i Graduated in the top 15 in my class of 15 I was just a punk kid I was tired of Milking cows and digging fence post Holes but when I graduated high school I Kind of knew I was going to join the Military as soon as I turned 18 the day After I signed up and shoved out my First duty assignment was Germany I got The germany in two weeks later I found Myself in Kosovo That was the first time in my life I’ve Ever had in perspective of what i have

Taken for granted from the time I was Born in this country to that moment this Dear little thing we called freedom that Was given me at birth just for being Born here and like a lot of the guys I Served with and in hindsight perspective After that I realized that joined the Army for one reason but I ended up Serving for another one it was shortly After that first year in the Army I Realized you know I need to get her back Because I’ve been taking freely for the Last 18 years without putting a penny in The jar to keep it going forward after I Got done with Germany I decided to be a Good idea to uh reenlisting and go to Korea was in Korea and I was one of the Fortunate souls there that after Spending 15 months in Korea the army Decided we needed more troops in Iraq a Few months before we actually got orders To employ I got work tomm Gary aunties Who is that nco when I was first in the Army for her Germany Was that nco that I wanted it he was the Epitome of a leader when he said he was Going to do something he did he taught Me that the best leaders changed their Leadership style for every soldier under Them they don’t expect every soldier to Change for them and that you lead by Example not fear sorry Barry aunties was Killed over in Iraq and last night and So when we got orders to deploy I had

The option to stay with him year ago I Went to my kronole once and I want to go My colonel we said they’re talking even Though I was married you know I had a Young daughter back home and Things like well you need to call your Wife game the next day I came into his Office reported and Joseph had a great Conversation with Tammy last night Get a little heartbroken look she Understands something I’ve gotta do we Get through that employment come back Home heaven Spears with my buddies I Little barbecue at the house and that Story slips out and that’s when I face My greatest challenge in the military is When my wife looked at me and said when Did you make that phone call We get to Afghanistan in 2009 we’re in Route to a lovely little spot called Combat Outpost Keating the only way to Access cop feeding was by helicopter you Couldn’t drive there you couldn’t walk There the roads have been pretty much Cut off Taliban control any ground Avenue up to that area and I remember Walking out this looking straight up 360 degrees and seeing nothing but Mountains to set there and you’ve got to Take me hyung 18 19 20 year-old kids This is our first appointment ever You’ve always taught them everything you Do they take the high ground we defend The high ground and you got to sit there

And look in the face and say a voice That’s where we’re told to be we were There for about three months we’ve Gotten hit on average at least once a Day for the most part it was probing Fire couple RPGs sometimes mortar rounds And we finally got word that we’re going To close this place down it had been Deemed tactically and defensively no Reason to be there which was excited We’re finally going to get to go with Effect this war someplace else Unfortunately the Taliban on October Third had different plans force At six o’clock in the morning first Rounds coming in and I remember waking Up Which wasn’t you know out of the Ordinary get shot at it at six o’clock In the morning metals only par for the Course I remember waking up and listen To the gun fired on the head you just Instantly knew this was not your average Everyday spray and great attack within That first hour they’ve overwhelmed our Perimeter defenses every report was we Are taking overwhelming accurate enemy Fire we are running out of ammo no Longer suppress the indirect fire we Need close air support unfortunately the Enemy have done their homework first Thing they did was they suppress our Workers our aircraft coverage was over An hour late the Afghan National Army

That was with us on the east side with Within first contact all 33 of those Guys to call there was only one gun left In the fight of specialist copas and Very shortly afterwards we had and we Taliban fighters inside our perimeter You’re outside you’re getting shot at And as Gregor was there icing he had a 240 machine gun I thought to myself I’ve I really like machine guns so I got the Triggering I’m like a blood follow me Grab what ammo you can follow me Reger a Myself were able to sneak around and get Into a position opened up with the first Underground and I remember looking up With that hillside and it was just like Ants coming down off the number there Are so many other things just you go From Target to target just seemed like They kept coming three guys came around Right through our front gate fired RPG And the generator reviews discovered in The meantime though specialist cope is The only gun left in the fight was man In a mark Bank team holding the entire Western excited right it’s giving an Eastern side of the omphalos unlock and He was running low on ammunition and we Realized we’ve been cut off from her Handle supply point enemy have pushed us Back so far we couldn’t even get our own Hand or a beer on guns and on top of That he had a sniper that was dug in Behind us

Pinning him down a little bit before That I got worse aren’t perfect already Gotten hit out by the front gate and I Went into the aid station to check get a Status line I went inside I look over at Doc gorilla give the thumbs-up Thumbs-down he gave me the thumbs down So at that point you know we got to keep Pushing we got to keep doing something So I was coming out of the aid station i Was able to grab one of the a a sniper Rifles at the abandoned came over to Kopassus truck and started playing Piccaboo with the sniper that was up in The hills fine silenced him Trying to still with all the chaos and Everything going on went into the Barracks get an assessment who we even Still had left in a fight and I remember Hard coming walking over me and he said I saranghae we found some more 50 cal Ammo I think I can take a couple of guys Will get that 50 back up we’re going to Push that truck to see if we do get Gallegos I looked at hard on my brother It’s now and we went back and forth for A minute and I realized that there’s no Tellin heart now he knew exactly what Needed to get done heart grab Faulkner Forever and he somehow they made it out Of that truck as they were coming in Lagos kept calling my brother get the Hell out of here all you’re doing is Becoming a target back up get out of

Here and hard said no and we’re going to Keep pushing for part comes across They’re going to RPG pointed right at me And that was it I knew what I said heart Alright go ahead and do it when he left Those barracks we walked out that door I Knew that class those are sealed he knew That was last for you see when he’s Still with because there was a hope There was a chance we had to be pushing Forward I went into the Tactical Operations Center I seen lieutenant but I recognized the base here we need to Counter-attack if we don’t get to our Ammo supply point we’re going to be out Of hand for am out of ammo we can’t Continue fighting they never expected Counter-attack with everything that was Going on when I walked into those Barracks or the proudest moments of my Life and it was said they’re open that Door look at the guy sitting there and All I said was I need I need a group of Volunteers five guys stood up in the Quick plan we grabbed what ammo we still Had left and we launched were able to Make it to the ammo supply point somehow Once we got there were able to start Being ammunition back to the rest of the Unit at that point we finally started Getting in the close air support the Apache started coming on-station started Getting the hn Larsen called me up hey brother got

Checked out the beds so good to go Headed your way we’re yeah front gate What do you need any Dr Pepper camel Lights few minutes later here comes Largely full packet dr. pepper a carton Of camel lights and admits to everything Going on we’ve cracked open a warm Dr Pepper sparked up a cigarette took a Moment and everything just disappeared For that brief moment of time once we Got done we know what we had to do the Plan became we need to recover our Fallen we still had enemy inside the Wire our big experiment they were going To talk and start taking our heroes we Weren’t talking to let them take one of Ours where we’re going to find it pushed Up when we found marking pushed up a Little farther found gallos we got the Risen bag but we got to the point where Tourists retched too thin and I remember Coming back laying in our defensive Position just feeling hopes We had done everything but we were still One short where it was hard after 13 Hours just as it was getting dark QRF Came in chosen company pushed out off The mountain and started sweeping Through as they made their push through Name found or after 13 hours we finally Had a count full accountability on eight Guys eight euros we lost that day and Mace was still hold it on we loaded him Up on that burden we thought base was

Going to make that was a hard loss Because we thought that boy was Unstoppable but we got home from the Fact that we’re pretty sure that mace Just wanted to hang out with us for the Last moment he possibly could as I look Back to it it wasn’t a day of sorrow Remorse from the day of pride they did They hit us with over 400 fighters Against 52 from an inferior position That the army Dean indefensible and I Got to serve standing left and right Next to 52 Americans that improved that Statement wrong and when it was all said And done we had nine more months left in Country I don’t think I did anything special That day I just did a job I knew my Battle buddies to my left and right We’re doing their job to watch them To not let them down that was a Motivator for me to know that sacrifice That was common throughout all those Guys out there when I where there’s a Little blue ribbon is still a little Bill this is a line we’re not metal Water where’s the recipients run out Where this stop- not for me it’s for Those eight men i gave up more than Anything that was ever asked for those Men that I’ve served in horse past And anyone have served this nation that Paid blood sweat tears so we could be a Free United States of America is for

Those men and women that serve currently Right now still in Afghanistan still ask The two what ninety nine point five Percent of this country has and Unfortunately I wear it for those that Will serve in the future that will Continue this legacy of what this great Nation means we had the phrase always Bored as long as you have breath in your Lungs and the ability to take a step you Can always take one more step forward And then once you get done with that one Step take another and another what Seemed impossible you overcome just one Step the time I really appreciate you allowing me to Share the story the honor of those men To help me lighten his load dispersible Among straw You