On November 8, 2007, high in the rugged mountains of Eastern Afghanistan, 14 American soldiers walked into a deadly enemy ambush. The soldiers were with the 1st Platoon, Chosen Company of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Six of the 14 were killed. Army Specialist Kyle White emerged a hero.
Six and a half years later, White vividly remembers every second of the battle.
“It just seemed like the entire valley erupted,” White told NBC News. “Bullets ricocheting off the rocks -- they never let up.”
Despite being wounded and temporarily knocked out cold by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade, White, with no regard for his own safety, repeatedly ran through heavy gunfire to attempt to rescue his fallen soldiers, including Specialist Kain Schilling.
“Kyle definitely save my life” said Schilling. “I can never repay him.”
Today at the White House, President Obama presented White with the nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor. But like so many before him, White doesn’t consider himself a hero.
“I was just doing my job,” he said. “The real heroes are those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their country.”