Clinton LaVor Romesha (/'roʊməʃeɪ/; born August 17, 1981) is a retired United States Army soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Kamdesh in 2009 during the War in Afghanistan.

Born into a family with a strong military background, Romesha joined the United States Army in 1999, and was posted at various times in Germany, South Korea and Colorado.

Serving as an M1 Abrams tank crewman and a Cavalry Scout, Romesha had seen four deployments, including to Kosovo, Iraq twice, and Afghanistan.

When a force of 300 Taliban insurgents attacked the base, Romesha was credited with rallying his comrades and leading the counterattack, directing close air support and providing suppressive fire to help the wounded to an aid station.

Romesha was born on August 17, 1981[2] in Lake City, Modoc County, California, to a family with a strong military background.

His next assignment was as a gunner/assistant tank commander with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 72d Armor Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Casey, South Korea.

[7] After a former mentor was killed in Iraq, Romesha volunteered for a tour supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom when parts of his unit received redeployment orders.

[3] Next, Romesha was assigned as section leader with Troop B, 3d Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado.

It replaced the outgoing Blackfoot Troop, 6th Squadron 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (Task Force Duke) at the remote outpost in the mountains of a semiautonomous area of the country.

[3] On October 3, 2009, according to a report published by United States Army historian Richard S. Lowry, Taliban fighters launched a coordinated attack on the outpost from three sides at about 06:00,[3] capturing its ammunition depot.

Romesha moved under heavy fire to reconnoiter the area and seek reinforcements from a nearby barracks, helping the ISAF troops to regroup and fight despite being targeted by a Taliban sniper.

While engaging a second, he took cover behind a generator which was struck by a rocket propelled grenade,[7] and Romesha was wounded in the neck, shoulder and arms by shrapnel.

[7][12] He is the fourth living Medal of Honor recipient for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (following Salvatore Giunta, Leroy Petry, and Dakota Meyer), and the eleventh overall for these campaigns.

[9] Romesha was only able to contact his wife Tammy four days after the battle, and later noted she was greatly upset when hearing the full story of his actions at Kamdesh.

[21] That same year the rights to a movie based on the book were optioned by Sony Pictures;[22] by December 2017 a script had been written and a director was assigned to the film.

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.

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.

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.