Military Review English Edition September-October 2014 | Page 131

Staff Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts
MEDAL OF HONOR
OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM

F

ormer Staff Sgt. Ryan M. Pitts was awarded the
Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama
in a 21 July White House ceremony for his actions at Wanat Village, Afghanistan, on 13 July 2008.
Pitts and eight other paratroopers had occupied
Observation Post Topside overlooking Vehicle Patrol
Base Kahler, adjacent to Wanat. About 200 enemy
fighters attacked the base just after 4 a.m., focusing
on key weapons systems and positions, including
Topside. Two soldiers at the observation post were
killed during the initial attack. The remaining seven
were wounded.
With shrapnel wounds to his legs and his left arm,
Pitts continued to fight for more than an hour, repelling the insurgents first with hand grenades, then with
a machine gun, and then with a grenade launcher.
Maintaining radio contact, he directed artillery fire
on targets around the base and later directed attack
helicopters sent to provide close air support.
At one point in the fight Pitts found himself
alone in the observation post, but he never gave up.
Eventually reinforcements arrived and the critically
wounded Pitts was medically evacuated.
Pitts’ actions prevented the enemy from gaining
control of the high ground and inflicting significantly
more casualties on the forces defending Vehicle Patrol
Base Kahler.
President Obama said during the award ceremony,
“In Ryan Pitts you see the humility and the loyalty
that define America’s men and women in uniform.”
Pitts later told reporters, “The real heroes are the
nine men who made the ultimate sacrifice so the rest
of us could return home. It is their names, not mine
that I want people to know.”

Ultimately, nine soldiers died defending
Observation Post Topside: Spc. Sergio Abad, Cpl.
Jonathan Ayers, Cpl. Jason Bogar, 1st Lt. Jonathan
Brostrom, Sgt. Israel Garcia, Cpl. Jason Hovater,
Cpl. Matthew Phillips, Cpl. Pruitt Rainey, and Cpl.
Gunnar Zwilling.
Pitts, a native of Nashua, N.H., is the ninth living
recipient of the nation’s highest military honor from
the Afghan War. He was inducted into the Pentagon’s
Hall of Heroes on 22 July.