Excerpt
PRESIDENT PRESIDENT OBAMA: I think our nation needs this ceremony today.
RAY SUAREZ (Newshour): President Obama made the formal award to William Swenson in the White House East Room, and he alluded to the fiscal fight dominating Washington.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: In moments like this, Americans like Will remind us what our country can be at its best.
RAY SUAREZ: The former Army captain is only the sixth living recipients for actions taken in Iraq or Afghanistan. In December 2009, he was serving as an embedded trainer and mentor to Afghan security forces. This Army simulation shows how his unit was ambushed by the Taliban in Afghanistan's Ganjgal Valley in Kunar Province, near the Pakistan border.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: And then Will learns that his noncommissioned officer, Sergeant 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook, has been shot in the neck. So Will breaks across 50 meters of open space, bullets biting all around. Lying on his back, he presses a bandage to Kenneth's wounds with one hand and calls for a medevac with the other, trying to keep his buddy calm.
By this time, the enemy's gotten even closer, just 20 or 30 meters away. And over the radio, they're demanding the Americans to surrender. So Will stops treating Kenneth long enough to respond by lobbing a grenade.
And, finally, after more than an hour-and-a-half of fighting, air support arrives.
RAY SUAREZ: A helmet cam worn by a crewman in a medevac helicopter showed Swenson kissing the sergeant's head to reassure him. Westbrook ultimately died, joining the four Americans, 10 Afghan troops and an interpreter killed in the ambush.
Another man involved in that fight, Marine Corporal Dakota Meyer, was awarded his Medal of Honor in 2011. The Pentagon is now investigating allegations that Swenson's nomination was delayed because he criticized superiors over the handling of the battle. The military says his paperwork was lost.
To help fill in this story, I'm joined now by David Nakamura of The Washington Post. He has interviewed Swenson many times.
COMMENT: On the two officers back at the command that had acted negligibly and ended up being sanctioned, being retired military I know these officer's carriers are dead. They will not advance in rank and likely will not be given a combat command position again, (in other words) be serving at desk jobs. Also, they may not be approved for re-enlistment when it comes due.
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