This week, we’ll start with the announcement by President Obama that Former Army Sgt. Kyle Jerome White (above) will receive the Medal of Honor during a May 13 ceremony at the White House.
The 27-year-old Seattle native will become the seventh living recipient of the nation’s highest military decoration for conspicuous gallantry and valor during actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.
He will receive the Medal of Honor for his disregard of his own life while trying to save the lives of a Marine and two fellow Soldiers after his team of 14 U.S. Soldiers and squad of Afghan National Army soldiers were set up and ambushed by a much larger and more heavily armed Taliban force, who engaged in a three-prong attack from elevated ground.
White has said that when he accepts the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama, he will do so in honor of the five soldiers and one Marine “who gave their lives in the defense of freedom and the American way of life.”
Please read more about this soldier’s heroic actions during the “Ambush at Aranas” here.
President Barack Obama participates in a naturalization ceremony that includes several service members at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul, April 25, 2014.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, and U.S. officials are gearing up to mark the centennial. Read about all the preparations being made by the World War I Centennial Commission and about that War here. Image of World War I Poster, courtesy World War I Centennial Organization
Our service members and their families are often victims of tragedies that strike the civilian community. It was so the case during the recent mudslide in Oso, Washington.
Navy personnel in the Northwest gathered for a memorial service for fallen Sailors and family members of the Oso, Washington mudslide at Naval Station Everett, April 25.
Homecomings after long deployments are some of the happiest occasions for our military and their families. Below, sailors man the rails of the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer as it transits San Diego Bay April 25 following a successful deployment to the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Derek A. Harkins)
And how about a triple welcome to their brand-new dads by three newborns:
From left: Quartermaster 3rd Class Mark Atwater, Quartermaster Seaman Caleb Hawks and Quartermaster 3rd Class James Cabbell, all assigned to the amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), pose with their newborn children during a homecoming ceremony at Naval Base San Diego, April 25. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class James Vazquez)
In the meantime, two search and recovery operations continue:
U.S. Marine Corps Marine Sgt. Orrin G. Stanford looks out of a UH-1Y Huey helicopter while conducting search and rescue operations April, 22, 2014, for the Sewol, the ferry that sank April 16 off the coast of Jindo island. Stanford is a crew chief assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.
The Defense Department is also continuing to support the international search mission for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. A group of Royal Australian Navy sailors aboard the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Perth (below) awaits Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Cesar Chavez, right, at the start of a replenishment-at-sea in the Indian Ocean. Royal Australian Navy photo by Able Seaman Imagery Specialist Nicolas Gonzalez.
Back to the Black Sea and the Ukraine crisis. The forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (below) approaches the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge over the Bosphorus Strait as it departs the Black Sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Edward Guttierrez III)
Finally, and sadly, our troops continue to slug it out in Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Pfc. Joshua Brown and Spc. Nicholas Morton check the settings on a target site during training on Forward Operating Base Lightning in Afghanistan’s Paktia province, April 25, 2014. Brown and Morton are assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s 3rd Squadron, 71st Calvary Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
Lead photo: Courtesy Army.mil
All other photos: DOD
