Medal of Honor Earned by Radio Operator for Saving Lives in Afghanistan

Former Army Sgt. Kyle J. White to receive Medal of Honor
Stars and Stripes
By Jon Harper
Published: April 15, 2014

Staff Sgt. Conrad Begaye awards Spc. Kyle White the Combat Infantryman Badge during a ceremony in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, Nov. 6, 2007.
PHOTO COURTESY OF KYLE WHITE

WASHINGTON — Former Army Sgt. Kyle J. White will be awarded the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony on May 13, 2014, the White House announced late Tuesday afternoon.

White, 27, will receive the nation's highest military award for his actions during a dismounted movement in mountainous terrain in Aranas, Afghanistan, on Nov. 9, 2007.

White was serving as a Platoon Radio Telephone Operator assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, when his team of U.S. and Afghan National Army soldiers were set up and ambushed by a much larger and more heavily armed Taliban force after a meeting with Afghan villagers.

"There was one shot, you know, down into the valley, and then it was two shots, and then it was full-automatic fire and RPGs ... it was coming from multiple directions," White later recalled, according to an Army news release.

White, a native of Seattle, separated from the Army on July 8, 2011, and used his G.I. Bill to attend the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He now works as an investment analyst in Charlotte.

White, whose father was a Special Forces Soldier during the Vietnam era, will be the seventh living recipient to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. He and his family will join President Barack Obama at the White House for the presentation ceremony.
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