President 
Obama presented former Army SSgt. Clinton L. Romesha, 31, with the Medal of Honor during a ceremony in the White House’s East Room on Monday. Obama recognized Romesha for his conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in helping to defend Combat Outpost Keating in Afghanistan’s Nuristan Province against a numerically superior Taliban force during an intense, day-long firefight on Oct. 3, 2009. Romesha was a section leader with the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team. This firefight has been described “as one of the most intense battles of the entire war in Afghanistan,” said Obama in his remarks at the Feb. 11 award ceremony. Romesha was instrumental in repelling the attack, destroying multiple enemy targets, helping wounded colleagues escape, and recovering the bodies of fallen comrades, all while continually exposing himself to heavy enemy fire, explained Obama. Despite taking shrapnel in his hip, arm, and neck from a rocket-propelled grenade, “he kept fighting, disregarding his own wounds,” noted Obama. Romesha became the fourth living MOH recipient for actions in Afghanistan or Iraq. He grew Lake City, Calif., and now lives in Minot, N.D. He separated from the Army in April 2011. (White House blog entry) (Romesha’s profile and MOH webpage)
Three of four congressional committees with influence over defense policy have voted to change the official name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War—but final approval of the Pentagon rebrand is months away and not yet assured.