President 
Obama on Thursday presented Marine Corps Sgt. Dakota L. Meyer with the nation’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor. The President recognized Meyer, 23, of Columbia, Kentucky, for his conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity during an intense six-hour battle with a large force of insurgents after it ambushed his team of marine trainers and Afghan soldiers in the village of Ganjgal, Afghanistan, on Sept. 8, 2009. “Because of your honor, 36 men are alive today,” said Obama during the award ceremony. “The Medal of Honor reflects the gratitude of the entire nation.” Meyer mounted the exposed gun on several different trucks during the course of the firefight, advancing five times with a fellow marine into the withering enemy fire to enable his colleagues to escape and to retrieve the bodies of four fallen colleagues. He was wounded in his arm. Meyer, now a Reservist, accepted the medal in the name of his fallen comrades. He is the third living MOH recipient from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. On Wednesday, Obama sat down for a beer with Meyer outside the Oval Office, something Meyer had requested. (Obama remarks) (White House blog entry) (MOH citation, Meyer profile)
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.