Clinton Romesha

Romesha was born on August 17, 1981 in Lake City, Modoc County, California, to a family with a strong military background. His maternal grandfather, Aury Smith, is a World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of Normandy. Romesha grew up in Lake City, where he developed an avid love of ice hockey. His father, Gary, is a Vietnam War veteran who later became a church leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Romesha is the fourth of five siblings, including two brothers who also joined the military. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and attended seminary for four years during high school but ultimately decided not to become a missionary for the church as his family had hoped he would. In 1999, Romesha graduated from Surprise Valley High School in Cedarville, California. == Military career ==

Romesha enlisted in the United States Army in September 1999 and underwent Basic Combat Training and later Advanced Individual Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. His unit was assigned to Combat Outpost Keating in the Kamdesh District, Nuristan Province in Eastern Afghanistan. It replaced the outgoing Blackfoot Troop, 6th Squadron 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (Task Force Duke) at the remote outpost in the mountains of a semiautonomous area of the country. Keating was located in a valley surrounded by steep mountains, and over the course of the deployment, it came under attack regularly. United States commanders opted to close the outpost by October 2009, considering it indefensible. He was noted for his sense of humor and calm temperament in the difficult deployment. It would later be known as the Battle of Kamdesh. Despite being wounded, Romesha directed air support that killed an estimated 30 Taliban and then took out several more Taliban positions himself. He provided suppressing fire to allow three other wounded American soldiers to reach an aid station and then recovered several American casualties while still under fire. Romesha's efforts allowed the troops to regroup and fight off a force superior in numbers. making the engagement one of the costliest for ISAF during the war. Romesha received the award from President Barack Obama in an award ceremony at the White House on 11 February 2013. He is the fourth living Medal of Honor recipient for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (following Salvatore Giunta, Leroy Petry, and Dakota Meyer), and the eleventh overall for these campaigns. On April 4, 2011, Romesha left the military in order to spend more time with his family. Romesha noted that he did not suffer post-traumatic stress disorder or other lasting psychological injuries from deployment, but that others he knew during the deployment did. After receiving the award, when speaking to the press wearing his Stetson, Romesha stated he felt "conflicted" about receiving the medal due to the loss of those who died while serving with him. In the days following the award, Romesha was recognized in a number of other events. He was inducted into The Pentagon's "Hall of Heroes" on February 12, He was recognized by Governor of North Dakota Jack Dalrymple in an event at the North Dakota State Capitol on February 21, 2013. On March 2, Romesha spoke at the military ball of the ROTC program at University of North Dakota. Since then Romesha keeps the Medal of Honor on him. It has some tarnish and wrinkles on it from being carried everywhere, shown to and handled by many. In 2016, Romesha's book Red Platoon was published recounting the Battle of Kamdesh. That same year the rights to a movie based on the book were optioned by Sony Pictures; by December 2017 a script had been written and a director was assigned to the film. Romesha, along with a dozen other veterans, starred in the veteran based zombie film Range 15, portraying fictional versions of themselves. In December 2017, Romesha and retired Captain Florent Groberg, another Medal of Honor recipient, donated their original Medals of Honor to the 4th Infantry Division, saying "This medal is too big for us." Romesha was not in attendance at the turnover ceremony. In 2018, Romesha endorsed Republican Kevin Cramer in the 2018 United States Senate election in North Dakota. == Personal life ==

Romesha married his wife Tamara on February 13, 2000. Due to his military service, the couple spent about 10 years apart from each other. The couple have three children: Dessi, Gwen, and Colin. In October 2024, Romesha joined 15 other Medal of Honor recipients in publicly endorsing Donald Trump for president. == Bibliography ==

During his military career, Romesha received a number of decorations. He is authorized to wear three service stripes, six Overseas Service Bars, as well as the former wartime service Combat Service Identification Badge for the 2nd Infantry Division and the 4th Infantry Division and the Distinctive Unit Insignia of the 61st Cavalry Regiment. Romesha's military decorations include the following awards: Medal of Honor citation awards the Medal of Honor to Romesha == In popular culture ==

In 2018, he was portrayed by Paul Wesley in the Netflix anthology documentary miniseries Medal of Honor. The film The Outpost, released on July 3, 2020, was based on the book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor by Jake Tapper. It follows a series of events on the US military outpost Combat Outpost Keating in the Nurestan Province of Afghanistan leading to the Battle of Kamdesh on October 3, 2009. Romesha was portrayed by Scott Eastwood and Ty Carter was portrayed by Caleb Landry Jones. == See also ==