President of the United States accompanied by medal of honor recipient Master Sergeant matthew williams, United States army. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me as we mark this occasion in word of prayer. Almighty god, champion of liberty and the oppressed, hear our prayers. You protect the righteous and bring justice to the flow. We gather today to honor the spirit of a warrior, who remained focused on the lives of his team and what needed to be done. He put the safety of others above his own, ran toward danger, and met it facetoface. Thank you for Master Sergeant matthew williams, an exemplary of heroism, whose heart and soul were tested in battle, producing the stronger man we honor today. Were revealed in a moment, and his example inspires us all. God bless matthew, is loving and devoted wife, their son, his extended family and comrades in arms here today. Let matthews life and legacy and this very metal be a reminder for us all to face our fears and find our own moments to shine. May the lamp of liberty continue to burn bright on the u. S. And army and may we be a beacon of hope and peace in our world. Amen. Thank you very much, chaplain. I appreciate that. Please, sit down. Well, this afternoon, its my privilege to present our nations highest and most revered military distinction. Its called the congressional medal of honor. Nothing like it. Please join me in welcoming todays extraordinary recipient, Master Sergeant matthew williams. [applause] thank you very much. We are delighted to have with us the secretary of defense, mark esper. Thank you, mark. And great job to you and to everybody and general milley for the incredible act you performed seven days ago with albaghdadi. He was hit hard, the way he shouldve been. And i just want to say, for all of our military were very proud of you. That was something very special. The whole world is proud of you, frankly. So thank you very much. Thank you, mark. Great job. [applause] also with us is deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs jim byrne. Thank you. Secretary of the army ryan mccarthy. Thank you. Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley. Thank you, general. Army chief of staff James Mcconville and Sergeant Major of the army michael grinston. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for being here. Also thank you to some very special warriors, in a little different kind of war, maybe, but they are warriors, senators john cornyn, ted cruz, and thom tillis. Thank you very much, fellas. Thank you. Along with representative Richard Hudson for being here. We have a few other great politicians here, but we wont bother because we want to get on with this one. This is a very special thing. Its such a great honor. Joining matt for this special ceremony is his wife kate, his father michael, his mother janet, brother cody, and his sister amy. Please stand up. Please. Thank you. Great family. [applause] each of you has strengthened our nation through your steadfast love and support. And we want to just thank you. Youre a very, very special family. Were also honored to be in the presence of eight previous congressional medal of honor winners, recipients are here. And i thought maybe we should what do you think . We should introduce them. I think so, right . Huh . Come on, lets do that. William swenson. William, thank you very much, william. [applause] ronald shurer. Thank you. Thank you, ronald. Thank you. [applause] walter marm. Hi, walter. [applause] robert foley. Thank you, robert. Thank you, robert. [applause] brian thacker. Thank you very much. [applause] florent groberg. Thank you. Thank you, florent. [applause] david bellavia. David. [applause] i heard you, maybe, are going to be running for office but someday, i know, huh . Ill tell you. Boy, ill tell you what, he has my vote. [laughter] you have a brave politician for a change, right . Thats great. Nice to see you, david. Thank you very much. And salvatore giunta. Thank you, salvatore. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you. Matt williams grew up in the small town of boerne, texas, a very small town. He met kate for the first time in elementary school. In college, he planned to pursue a career in law enforcement. But after 9 11, matt decided his place was on the frontlines of the war on terror. He wanted to be the best of the best. He worked so hard at it. So, after graduation, he enlisted in the army to become a green beret. Matt finished his special forces training in august 2007 and deployed to afghanistan by october. On april 6, 2008, he joined dozens of American Special forces and afghan commandos on a mission to take down a terrorist leader in a remote mountain village. It sounded simple not simple. On that cold spring morning, the soldiers arrived in helicopters and jumped 10 feet from their chinooks into the rocky and freezing terrain of shok valley. When the First Americans reached the edge of the valley, at the base of a 100foot mountain, a handful of special forces scouted ahead. The lead group was 60 feet up the slope when roughly 200 insurgents savagely attacked, and it was a big surprise a very unwelcome surprise, i might add. The terrorists filled the valley with a hail of bullets and explosions. Matt soon received word that the soldiers on the mountain were pinned down and suffering from mounting casualties. He organized the afghan infantry under his command, and he led a bold counterassault to stop the enemy advance. As machinegun fire rained down from above, matt and his fellow american soldiers, scott ford and ronald shurer, charged up the mountain. Once they reached their trapped comrades, matt realized that several of them were too gravely wounded to be quickly evacuated. He ran down the mountain to get support and then climbed back up with bullets spraying all around. Spring all around. Not a good place to be. Again and again met Exchange Fire with the enemy and rescued his fellow soldiers. He guided his injured team sergeant, scott ford, down the mountain to safety. When matt noticed two combatants moving toward a group of the badly wounded, he immediately engaged the enemy fighters and killed them both. But matt was not done yet. In order to rejoin the battle of the mountain, he and Sergeant Seth howard scaled a cliff, completely exposed to attack. Matt quickly reengaged the adversary and shielded the injured from falling