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The unit took cover, and Monti radioed for air support. But he soon learned that one of his men, Pfc. Brian Bradbury, was badly hit and out in the open — 30 feet away. The other patrol leader was closer to the wounded soldier and offered to go.

Monti wouldn't have it. Bradbury was his responsibility.

"Jared Monti saw the danger before him. And he went out to meet it," President Obama said at the Medal of Honor ceremony in September at the White House.

Monti made it a short distance before the intensity of the fire forced him to take cover behind a stone wall where another soldier lay dead.

He tried a second time to reach Bradbury but was again forced back behind the wall.

Asking his men to cover him with heavier gunfire at nearby woods, Monti gave it a third try but was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade that cost him his life. He was 30.

"The courage Monti showed in trying to save Bradbury was the most courageous, inspiring and selfless act I have ever seen and I shall never forget it," Staff Sgt. John Hawes wrote in a letter to Monti's parents.

Monti became the second military man awarded the Medal of Honor for Operation Enduring Freedom. The medal — the highest recognition for valor that a service member can receive — was awarded to Monti

"for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty."

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