President Obama will award former Army SSgt. Clinton L. Romesha the Medal of Honor during a White House ceremony on Feb. 11, announced the White House. Obama will honor Romesha for his conspicuous gallantry during combat operations in Afghanistan in 2009; he will be the fourth living MOH recipient for actions in Afghanistan or Iraq, states the White House’s Jan. 11 release. On Oct. 3, 2009, Romesha helped repel an enemy attack of some 300 insurgents who outnumbered the defenders of Combat Outpost Keating in Nuristan province where he was a section leader with the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, according to the Army’s Jan. 11 release. Romesha is credited with braving intense enemy fire to mobilize a five-man team to defend the outpost. He reportedly took out an enemy machine gun team and kept fighting after shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade wounded him. He then directed air support, took out several additional enemy positions, provided covering fire and helped three wounded comrades reach safety, and recovered several fallen comrades in the face of enemy fire, states the release. Romesha separated from the Army in April 2011; he currently lives in Minot, N.D.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.