SSgt, U.S. Army — War on Terror
Ryan M. Pitts was born on October 1, 1985, in Lowell, Massachusetts, and grew up “all over New England,” including Mont Vernon, New Hampshire. As a boy he already knew his calling — he wanted to join the Army from the time he was in kindergarten. After graduating from Souhegan High School in 2003, he made that childhood ambition real and enlisted.
Pitts completed his training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and served first with the 319th Field Artillery Regiment until 2005, then with the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, where he became a forward observer — the soldier responsible for calling in artillery and air support. He deployed to Afghanistan twice: twelve months in 2005 and fifteen months beginning in 2007.
On July 13, 2008, then-Sergeant Pitts was manning Observation Post Topside, an exposed position above Vehicle Patrol Base Kahler near Wanat Village in Kunar Province, when more than 200 insurgents launched a pre-dawn assault with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, and small arms. Knocked to the ground and bleeding from shrapnel wounds to his arm and legs, Pitts refused to leave. He took control of the overrun observation post, returned fire, and hurled grenades with barely any delay before they detonated. Unable to stand, he kept up suppressive fire until a two-man reinforcement team reached him — then handed over his weapon, gathered their ammunition, and kept fighting. Finally he crawled to the northern radio and reported the situation to the command post, all while enemy fighters kept trying to cut the outpost off. Nine of his teammates were killed that day, and Pitts is credited with preventing the enemy from taking the position or the bodies of the fallen. He was medically discharged from the Army in 2009.
For his actions at Wanat, Pitts received the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama on July 21, 2014, becoming the ninth living recipient of the award for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the third recipient from the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, alongside Salvatore Giunta and Kyle White. He has always shared the honor with his fallen brothers, saying: “This award isn’t about what I did; it’s about what we did as a team.”
Sources: Wikipedia · Congressional Medal of Honor Society