WHITE HOUSE VIDEO: INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE: THE MEDAL OF HONOR

FORMER ARMY SGT. WILL ACCEPT MEDAL OF HONOR IN HONOR OF SIX WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES

FROM:  THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

White to Accept Medal of Honor in Memory of Comrades

By J.D. Leipold

Army News Service

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2014 – Former Army Sgt. Kyle J. White said that when he accepts the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama at the White House on May 13, he will do so in honor of the five soldiers and one Marine "who gave their lives in the defense of freedom and the American way of life."
White spoke at a press conference yesterday at the National Guard Center in Charlotte, N.C., near where he now lives. White was just 20 when he was deployed to Afghanistan. On Nov. 9, 2007, his 14-man unit and squad of Afghan soldiers were brutally ambushed on three sides by Taliban fighters on a path descending from the village of Aranas into a valley.

"On May 13th when I'm awarded the Medal of Honor, I will tell their stories and preserve their memories… they will not be forgotten," the now-27-year-old Seattle native told the press and bloggers. "Their sacrifice and the sacrifices of so many others are what motivate me to wake up each and every day to be the best I can. Everything I do in my life is done to make them proud."
White was asked how strong the memory of the battle is now, after almost seven years, during which time he attained a bachelor's degree and became an investment analyst for a major bank.

"I would say for the first couple of years, memories were more vivid than today. As time goes on certain things you think about less and less, but at any given moment I can close my eyes and hear the sounds and smell the gunpowder in the air; but six and a half years later, I don't think about it as much as I used to," he said.

He did share that there were two things he can always visualize as if it were yesterday -- when he looked up from applying a tourniquet to wounded Marine Sgt. Phillip Bocks to see then-Spc. Kain Schilling take an enemy round to his left leg. White rushed to his buddy and for the second time that day applied a second tourniquet to Schilling, the only one he had left, his own belt.
White will receive the Medal of Honor for his disregard of his own life while trying to save the lives of a Marine and two fellow soldiers after his team of 14 U.S. soldiers and squad of Afghan National Army soldiers were set up and ambushed by a much larger and more heavily armed Taliban force, who engaged in a three-prong attack from elevated ground.

He will become the seventh living recipient of the nation's highest military decoration for conspicuous gallantry and valor during actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

PRESIDENT OBAMA PRESENTS MEDAL OF HONOR TO FORMER ARMY CAPTAIN

President Barack Obama presents the Medal of Honor to former Army Capt. William D. Swenson during an Oct. 15, 2013, White House ceremony. Swenson was honored for his valor during a Sept. 8, 2009, battle in Afghanistan's Kunar province. U.S. Army photo by Lisa Ferdinando 

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Former Army Captain Receives Medal of Honor at White House
By Lisa Ferdinando
Army News Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2013 - President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Honor to former Army Capt. William D. Swenson in a White House ceremony yesterday, citing Swenson's heroism during a six-hour battle that followed a deadly Taliban ambush in Afghanistan four years ago.
Swenson is the first Army officer to receive the nation's highest military honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Guests at the White House ceremony included other Medal of Honor recipients, soldiers and Marines who fought alongside Swenson, and the families of service members who died in the battle. Army Secretary John M. McHugh, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno and Army Undersecretary Joseph W. Westphal also attended.

Before draping the medal around Swenson's neck, Obama recounted Swenson's heroic actions in saving more than a dozen lives during the Sept. 8, 2009, Battle of Ganjgal in Afghanistan's Kunar province.

Swenson is the second service member to receive the Medal of Honor for that battle. Dakota Meyer, a Marine Corps corporal at the time, was honored two years ago.

The president said Swenson is a remarkable example to the nation of the professionalism and patriotism that everyone should strive for.

"Capt. Will Swenson was a leader on that September morning," Obama said. "But like all great leaders, he was also a servant -- to the men he commanded, to the more than a dozen Afghans and Americans whose lives he saved, to the families of those who gave their last full measure of devotion on that faraway field."

Swenson served with Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan's Task Force Phoenix in support of 10th Mountain Division's 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, as an embedded advisor to the Afghan border police. He said the honor is for all who served that day and for the families of those who were killed in the battle.

"The value of an award is truly what we as a nation put into it, what we value it as," he told reporters after receiving the award. "This award is earned with a team -- a team of our finest Marines, Army, Air Force, Navy and our Afghan partners standing side by side. Now that team includes Gold Star families who lost their fathers, sons and husbands that day. This medal represents them -- it represents us."

Around sunrise that day four years ago, Obama said, a column of Afghan soldiers and their American advisors were winding their way up a narrow trail toward a village to meet with elders. "But just as the first soldier reaches the outskirts of the village, all hell breaks loose," he added.

The American forces and their Afghan partners were ambushed by more than 60 well-armed, well-positioned enemy fighters, the Medal of Honor citation said. Insurgents surrounded three Marines and a Navy corpsman, Obama said, and rocket-propelled grenades, mortar and machine-gun fire poured in from three sides.

"Will and the soldiers in the center of the column are pinned down," he said. Swenson called in air support, Obama said, but initial requests were denied because Swenson and his team were too close to the village.

After finding out his noncommissioned officer, Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook, was injured, Swenson risked his life to aid him.

"Will breaks across 50 meters of open space, bullets biting all around," Obama said. "Lying on his back, he presses a bandage to Kenneth's wounds with one hand and calls for a medevac with the other, trying to keep his buddy calm."

Swenson continued to fight the enemy and risked his life getting Westbrook to the medevac, said Obama, noting that before the helicopter left, Swenson kissed Westbrook on the forehead in "a simple act of compassion and loyalty to a brother in arms."

Risking his own life again, Swenson then drove an unarmored vehicle straight into the kill zone to rescue injured Afghan forces, Obama said. He returned into the path of enemy fire again, when he and a Humvee crew recovered the four fallen service members.

"Will and the others carry them out, one by one," Obama said. "They bring their fallen brothers home."

Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Edwin Johnson, Marine Corps 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Aaron Kenefick and Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class James Layton were killed, along with nine Afghan security force personnel.

Westbrook survived the battle, but died a month later from complications.

"To the families of those we've lost, we will never forget," said Obama, adding that the nation is grateful for those who served that day and all who continue to serve "with such incredible courage and professionalism."

LEVITOW MEMORIAL UNVEILED AT CANNON AIR FORCE BASE

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE
A Medal of Honor hangs from the newly unveiled John Lee Levitow memorial in the heritage room of the 3rd Special Operations Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., May 22, 2012. Levitow was an AC-47 gunship loadmaster who became the lowest ranking Airman to ever receive the Medal of Honor for exceptional heroism during a time of war. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Xavier Lockley) 











3 SOS unveils Levitow Memorial at Cannon AFB 
by Public Affairs Staff
27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

5/22/2012 - CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M.  -- The 3rd Special Operations Squadron unveiled a memorial dedicated to Airman 1st Class John L. Levitow in their heritage room at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., May 22.

Assigned to the 3 SOS during the Vietnam War, Levitow worked as a loadmaster on an AC-47 Spooky gunship. While supporting a firefight and dropping white phosphorus flares through the open door of the gunship, his aircraft was jarred by a tremendous blast. A North Vietnamese Army 82-millimeter mortar shell landed on top of the right wing and exploded inside the wing frame. Everyone in the back of "Spooky 71" was wounded, including Levitow.

Immediately after the explosion, Levitow saw that a burning Mark 24 magnesium flare that had been knocked free in the fuselage and was rolling amid ammunition cans that contained 19,000 rounds of live ammunition. Despite his wounds, he threw his body onto the burning flare and dragged himself to the rear of the aircraft where he hurled the flare through the open cargo door. At that instant, the flare separated and ignited in the air, but clear of the aircraft. Levitow's actions saved the gunship and the lives of the crew members onboard.

Levitow was awarded the Medal of Honor for these heroic acts, and he became the lowest-ranking Airman ever to receive the prestigious honor for exceptional heroism during wartime.

According to the official website for the Public Broadcasting Service, there have been seventeen Medal of Honor recipients since the formation of a separate Air Force in 1947. This places Levitow in an elite group.

"John Levitow was part of the 3 SOS, a fellow Air Commando, and a significant part of our squadron's lineage," said Master Sgt. Charles Nichols, 3 SOS operational superintendent. "Our troops are so proud to finally see this memorial within the 3 SOS after all the work we put into getting it here."

Today, the 3 SOS flies the MQ-1B Predator, a Remotely Piloted Aircraft that is employed primarily for intelligence collection. The 3 SOS has flown more than 200,000 hours since October 2005 and continues to conduct operations in support of Special Operations Forces worldwide.

Chief Master Sgt. Gary Glover, 27th Special Operations Group superintendent, came up with the concept of erecting the memorial at the 3 SOS. "I wanted to do it for the squadron, but it's more of a testament of the sacrifice and service before self attitude that the squadron still lives by today," said Glover. "Knowing the heritage of your squadron helps inspire pride and professionalism."

While Glover started the memorial project, Nichols took the steps necessary to follow through on the initiative.

"I didn't succeed alone in this endeavor," said Nichols. "A lot of hard working people stepped up from the squadron to make this memorial a reality. Everyone in the 3 SOS played some part, so it really was a team effort."

The 3 SOS hosted a base-wide motorcycle ride and squadron barbeque to raise money needed for the memorial. More than 30 motorcyclists took part in the ride, which went through Clovis, Melrose and Portales, N.M., and helped raise more than $800.

One of the more difficult items to procure was the actual Medal of Honor ribbon, which needed Congressional approval to be sent to the 3 SOS. Levitow originally received the medal in 1969.

"It just goes to show that no matter how many stripes you have on your sleeve or how much brass you have on your collar, you can make a difference in the lives of others," said Nichols. "To see this year-long project finally realized makes us feel like we've made an impact at Cannon."