Military Review English Edition July-August 2014 | Page 111

Sergeant Kyle J. White
MEDAL OF HONOR
OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM

F

ormer Sgt. Kyle J. White was awarded the
Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in
a ceremony at the White House on 14 May.

President Obama said of White—
You make us proud, and you motivate all of
us to be the best we can be as Americans, as
a nation; to uphold our sacred obligations to
your generation and all who have faced that
“measure of danger” and “the willingness to
incur it.”

The Seattle, Wash. native received the nation’s
highest military decoration for his actions during
combat operations in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan,
on 9 November 2007. White’s unit, comprised of 13
Americans and a squad of Afghan soldiers, was ambushed on a narrow mountain path as they were returning to Combat Outpost Bella after a meeting with
Aranas village elders.
Wounded by shrapnel from rocket-propelled
grenades and briefly knocked unconscious, White
awoke to find several of his comrades had sustained
life-threatening wounds. Taking immediate action, he
repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to provide
first aid to the wounded soldiers and marines.
He exposed himself to fire again to retrieve a radio
from a fallen comrade, which he used to call for air
support and, ultimately, medical evacuation.
Five soldiers and one marine died during the Battle
of Aranas.