Pitts, the forward observer, and Sgt. Matthew Gobble began to put together a request for indirect fire from the OP. But before they could complete the call, at about 4:20 a.m., the first burst of machine-gun fire ripped through the air.<\/p>\n
The enemy had infiltrated Wanat, setting up firing positions and weapons caches in the town\u2019s bazaar, hotel complex, homes and mosque as they launched a full-scale assault, focusing their fires on VPB Kahler\u2019s key defensive weapon systems and positions.<\/p>\n
Within minutes, the enemy had destroyed the TOW system and injured the soldiers manning the 120mm mortar firing pit, setting it on fire, according to the narrative.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got knocked out of the center position into one of our northern fighting positions,\u201d Pitts said. \u201cSpc. [Tyler] Stafford was also wounded, Sgt. Gobble was wounded. It was in those opening moments that Spc. Matt Phillips started to return fire \u2014 he threw a hand grenade and was killed by the RPG that came in. [Spc.] Gunnar Zwilling was killed. It was just a barrage of RPGs, and it was very disorienting.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
At that point, a sort of rescue unit down below started heading up to where Pitts was:<\/p>\n
That team \u2014 Staff Sgt. Sean Samaroo, Sgt. Israel Garcia, Spc. Jacob Sones and Spc. Michael Denton, \u2014 scrambled up the terraces to reach the OP.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know they were coming,\u201d Pitts said.<\/p>\n
Sones started treating Pitts\u2019 wounds while Garcia pulled security, and Samaroo and Denton began checking on the casualties.<\/p>\n
The scene at the OP \u201cwasn\u2019t good,\u201d said Denton, who would earn the Silver Star for his actions that day. \u201cI found my best bud Hovater laying up there. I took ammo from Hovater\u2019s body, told him I loved him.\u201d<\/p>\n
He then went into the crow\u2019s nest, where he found Ayers slumped over the M240B. Denton gently moved Ayers and began manning the machine gun.<\/p>\n
The paratroopers at the OP eventually huddled up in the southern fighting position, while Denton, who was wounded but still able to stand, tried to pull security.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cleared a double feed [on a rifle] and I realized how bad my right hand was,\u201d Denton said. \u201cThe bone was sticking out of my hand.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Anyway, you need to go read the whole thing, but Denton (more commonly known by us as “Mongo”) was with us in the tent for a week in Montana.\u00a0 By day we rode horses up in the mountains, and by night we drank a ton and a half of adult beverages and told stories of our time in the military.\u00a0 Listening to Denton and Pitts talk about Wanat was tough….it was simply hell on Earth.<\/p>\n
When I say he’s the nicest, most humble guy ever, I’m not kidding.\u00a0 Watch this video and you be the judge.<\/p>\n
Either way, I salute Ryan as a hero, as a friend, and as a Red Sox fan!\u00a0 (He and I bonded over our New England heritage.)\u00a0 I honestly can not wait to go to the White House for this ceremony.\u00a0 I’m even going to buy a brand new suit to wear.\u00a0 No one could ever be more deserving of acolades than Ryan.<\/p>\n
I saw him last month at the Kyle White MOH ceremony, and he ran right over and we enjoyed a beverage and a few laughs together. He’s married now, has a young son, a good job and\u00a0a beautiful wife. I’m just so happy for the guy. The MOH is a big weight though. I’ll be praying for him, but he truly is one of the greats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From my paying home… I got the email yesterday as I was driving home from Chicago: … Ryan Pitts: The Reluctant Hero receiving the Medal of Honor<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-real-soldiers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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