| 00:02:488 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Please be seated. Good afternoon, and welcome to the White House. |
| 00:02:5624 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Of all the privileges serving as President, there's no greater honor than serving as Commander-in-Chief of the finest military that the world has ever... |
| 00:03:2056 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
It has been nearly 150 years since our nation first presented this medal for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of life above... |
| 00:04:1628 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
The Medal of Honor reflects the admiration and gratitude of the nation. So we are joined by members of Congress -- including from Sergeant Monti's home... |
| 00:04:4433 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
We are joined by the leaders of the Army to which Sergeant Monti dedicated his life: Secretary Pete Geren; our incoming Secretary -- confirmed by the... |
| 00:05:1736 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
But today is not about high officials and those with stars on their shoulders. It's a celebration of a young soldier and those who loved him, who made... |
| 00:05:5348 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Duty. Honor. Country. Service. Sacrifice. Heroism. These are words of weight. But as people -- as a people and as a culture, we often invoke them lightly.... |
| 00:06:4131 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
There was Jared's compassion. He was the kid at school who, upon seeing a student eating lunch alone, would walk over and befriend him. He was the teenager... |
| 00:07:1226 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
There was Jared's perseverance. Cut from the high school basketball team, he came back the next year, and the next year, and the next year -- three... |
| 00:07:3825 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
There was Jared's strength and skill -- the championship wrestler and triathlete who went off to basic training, just 18 years old, and then served... |
| 00:08:0331 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
And there was Jared's deep and abiding love for his fellow soldiers. Maybe it came from his mom, who was a nurse. Maybe it came from his dad, a teacher.... |
| 00:08:3415 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Compassion. Perseverance. Strength. A love for his fellow soldiers. Those are the values that defined Jared Monti's life -- and the values he displayed... |
| 00:08:4935 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
It was June 21st, 2006, in the remotest northeast of Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. Sergeant Monti was a team leader on a 16-man patrol.... |
| 00:09:2430 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Those who were there remember that evening on the mountain -- a rocky ridge, not much bigger than this room. Some were standing guard, knowing they... |
| 00:09:5440 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
One member of the patrol said it was "like thousands of rifles crackling." Bullets and heavy machine gunfire ricocheting across the rocks. Rocket-propelled... |
| 00:10:3441 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
That's when Jared Monti did what he was trained to do. With the enemy advancing -- so close they could hear their voices -- he got on his radio and... |
| 00:11:1519 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
It was written long ago that "the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet, notwithstanding,... |
| 00:11:3422 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
He handed off his radio. He tightened his chin strap. And with his men providing cover, Jared rose and started to run. Into all those incoming bullets.... |
| 00:11:5645 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
A moment later, he rose again. And again they fired everything they had at him, forcing him back. Faced with overwhelming enemy fire, Jared could have... |
| 00:12:4120 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
They say it was a rocket-propelled grenade; that Jared made it within a few yards of his wounded soldier. They say that his final words, there on that... |
| 00:13:0121 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
And then, as the artillery that Jared had called in came down, the enemy fire slowed, then stopped. The patrol had defeated the attack. They had held... |
| 00:13:2229 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
I'm told that Jared was a very humble guy; that he would have been uncomfortable with all this attention; that he'd say he was just doing his job; and... |
| 00:13:511 min. |
Obama, Barack - President
And we honor all the soldiers he loved and who loved him back -- among them noncommissioned officers who remind us why the Army has designated this... |
| 00:15:0523 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Like Jared, these soldiers know the meaning of duty, and of honor, of country. Like Jared, they remind us all that the price of freedom is great. And... |
| 00:15:2837 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti. In his proud hometown of Raynham, his name graces streets and scholarships. Across a grateful nation, it graces... |
| 00:16:0526 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
May God bless Jared Monti, and may He comfort the entire Monti family. And may God bless the United States of America. (Applause.) |
| 00:16:3121 sec. |
Obama, Barack - President
Janet, Paul, would you please join me at the podium for the reading of the citation. |
| 00:16:5215 sec. |
MILITARY AIDE, -
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3rd, 1863, has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor... |
| 00:17:076 sec. |
MILITARY AIDE, -
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: |
| 00:17:132 min. |
MILITARY AIDE, -
Staff Sergeant Jared C. Monti distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a team leader... |
| 00:19:371 min. |
MILITARY AIDE, -
(The Medal of Honor is awarded.) |