Clint Romesha was born in the small town of Lake City in northwestern California, in a family with a strong military heritage. His grandfather was a World War II Battle of Normandy Veteran, and his father was a 4th Infantry Division Veteran with two tours in Vietnam. Clint was the fourth of five siblings, and his two older brothers also served.
After graduating from Surprise Valley High School in Cedarville in 1999, where he excelled as an ice hockey player, then-17-year-old Clint wanted to join the Army, but his father refused to sign his age waiver. He told Clint, “If you do this and get deployed, you will see and do things no man should have to, and I will not sign you up for that.”
Determined to serve our nation, Clint enlisted in the Army once he turned 18. He completed Basic Training and became an armor crewman for the M1 Abrams tank. He married his high school sweetheart, Tammy, before he was assigned as a 1st Infantry Division tank gunner in Germany, and completed a deployment to Kosovo. He next deployed to South Korea as a 2nd Infantry Division gunner/assistant tank commander.
Clint volunteered for his first combat tour in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004. After completing the Long Range Reconnaissance Course, the Advanced Leader Course, and Air Assault Training at Fort Carson, Colorado, he served a second tour in Iraq as a Cavalry Scout.
In 2009, Clint started his fourth deployment, this one with Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, and deployed to Combat Outpost (COP) Keating in eastern Afghanistan.
Then-Staff Sergeant Romesha recalls that when he arrived at Outpost Keating, one of the soldiers his group relieved had carved into a board under a sun tarp, “It doesn’t get any better.” He told his own men, “It won’t because we’re going to make every day the best!”
Clint believes that all of us are born with a particular talent and must strive to find it. “I think my specific talent,” he says, “is to take men overseas and lead them in combat.”
On 9 October 2009, in the Battle of Kamdesh, he put his talent to the ultimate test while serving as the section leader of Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron. Before dawn, Outpost Keating’s 53 American soldiers were attacked by an estimated 300 Taliban fighters, who had occupied the high ground above the outpost.
Clint recalls: “As soon as you heard those rounds come in — we’d gotten attacked on a pretty regular basis, and you kind of got used to incoming [fire] normally around that time in the morning — but this time you just knew it was a whole different ballgame.” And it was.
He moved through the darkness under intense fire to get a machine gun from the barracks. He rallied his men, initially taking out an enemy machine gun squad. He was leveling down on another squad when an RPG hit the generator behind which he was taking cover, hitting him in the hip, arm, and neck with shrapnel.
Leading the counterattack, he called in and directed close air support while providing suppressive fire in order to get to his wounded men and the deceased, despite his own wounds. He continued to retrieve the wounded in the line of fire for 12 hours. In the after-action report, he was credited with having killed 10 enemy fighters and directing fire to take out 30 more.
The Battle of Kamdesh was the deadliest confrontation in more than a year. For his actions that day, Clinton would be awarded the Medal of Honor.
According to his citation:
On that morning, Staff Sergeant Romesha and his comrades awakened to an attack by an estimated 300 enemy fighters occupying the high ground on all four sides of the complex, employing concentrated fire from recoilless rifles, rocket propelled grenades, anti-aircraft machine guns, mortars and small arms fire. Staff Sergeant Romesha moved uncovered under intense enemy fire to conduct a reconnaissance of the battlefield and seek reinforcements from the barracks before returning to action with the support of an assistant gunner. Staff Sergeant Romesha took out an enemy machine gun team and, while engaging a second, the generator he was using for cover was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, inflicting him with shrapnel wounds.
Undeterred by his injuries, Staff Sergeant Romesha continued to fight and upon the arrival of another soldier to aid him and the assistant gunner, he again rushed through the exposed avenue to assemble additional soldiers. Staff Sergeant Romesha then mobilized a five-man team and returned to the fight equipped with a sniper rifle. With complete disregard for his own safety, Staff Sergeant Romesha continually exposed himself to heavy enemy fire, as he moved confidently about the battlefield engaging and destroying multiple enemy targets, including three Taliban fighters who had breached the combat outpost’s perimeter. While orchestrating a successful plan to secure and reinforce key points of the battlefield, Staff Sergeant Romesha maintained radio communication with the tactical operations center.
As the enemy forces attacked with even greater ferocity, unleashing a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades and recoilless rifle rounds, Staff Sergeant Romesha identified the point of attack and directed air support to destroy over 30 enemy fighters. After receiving reports that seriously injured soldiers were at a distant battle position, Staff Sergeant Romesha and his team provided covering fire to allow the injured soldiers to safely reach the aid station. Upon receipt of orders to proceed to the next objective, his team pushed forward 100 meters under overwhelming enemy fire to recover and prevent the enemy fighters from taking the bodies of the fallen comrades.
Staff Sergeant Romesha’s heroic actions throughout the day-long battle were critical in suppressing an enemy that had far greater numbers. His extraordinary efforts gave Bravo Troop the opportunity to regroup, reorganize and prepare for the counterattack that allowed the Troop to account for its personnel and secure Combat Post Keating. Staff Sergeant Romesha’s discipline and extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty reflect great credit upon himself, Bravo Troop, 3d Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and the United States Army.
Indeed.
Clint began that day with 52 men. Before it ended, eight of them would perish.
In addition to Romesha’s Medal of Honor, a second Medal of Honor for actions that day was later bestowed upon Army SSG Ty Carter, who also survived the battle. Nine other soldiers received the Silver Star, our nation’s third-highest decoration for valor in combat.
His book, Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor, is considered by Veterans to be one of the best accounts of combat ever written. The Battle of Kamdesh is the subject of the movie “The Outpost.”
In Red Platoon, Clint wrote: “There are eight other guys with whom I served to whom that Medal of Honor rightly belongs, because heroes — true heroes, the men whose spirit the medal embodies — don’t ever come home. By that definition, I’m not a true hero. Instead, I’m a custodian and a caretaker. I hold the Medal, and everything it represents, on behalf of those who are its rightful owners. … That’s why I carry it with me.”
Of that battle, Clint says, “I felt like that day was the first day in 10 years of military service that I did my job. This was the ultimate test of everything I had done in the service, and it all led to this day when it was you versus them, and let’s see who comes out on top.”
Clint exhibits the distinct and quiet humility of every recipient I have met. He says he was simply at a juncture of place and time that required him to do something extraordinary — actions that he says most of his military compatriots and many other Americans would also have done.
Of being viewed by others as a hero, he says, “I’m not. I don’t feel that way. I never have. I always thought of myself as a warrior.” Clint is certainly that, but he was also moved to heroic action, as most decorated Veterans are, by “love for your fellow brother.” He says, “Motivational love will get people out of a foxhole and running for the machine gun every day.”
Regarding the battles our nation has fought on foreign soil, Clint says: “The biggest difference between what we are as Americans and what the rest of the world is — we do it out of love, not hate. I’m a firm believer that we as Veterans owe it to this country to share our stories because while we can never truly convey what combat is to people who have not experienced it, maybe we can shed a little light on what true service and sacrifice is.”
He also notes that his generation has “come up short” when it comes to teaching young people the importance of patriotism and the sacrifices made on their behalf: “We complain about Millennial apathy, but we haven’t shown them the way.”
Clint is among the Medal of Honor recipients who serve on our National Medal of Honor Heritage Center board. He recently spoke about his military service.
A major component of the Heritage Center is educating young people about the six character traits that are common to recipients: Courage, Sacrifice, Patriotism, Citizenship, Integrity, and Commitment.
Clint was presented his Medal of Honor by Barack Obama, the day of Obama’s 2013 State of the Union Address. He was offered the seat next to Michelle Obama for that address, but declined. In October 2024, Clint joined other Medal of Honor recipients with a rare public presidential endorsement — for Donald Trump.
After leaving the Army, Clint and Tammy, and their three children, settled in Minot, North Dakota.
SSG Clint Romesha: Your example of valor — a humble American Patriot defending Liberty for all above and beyond the call of duty and in disregard for the peril to your own life — is eternal.
“Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Live your life worthy of his sacrifice.
Publisher’s Note: Patriots, join Clint Romesha and all living recipients at the 2025 Medal of Honor Celebration hosted by the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center. This is a week-long convention beginning 30 September featuring public and private events to celebrate American Patriots whose heroic acts of valor have forever shaped our nation’s story. The Patriot Awards Gala is the capstone dinner on Saturday, 4 October. Learn more about corporate, foundation and individual sponsorship opportunities for this high-profile event before they close. If you have questions, please use the comment link below this profile.
(Read more Profiles of Valor here.)
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776
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