0 ♪ i did not think i would ever be guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier. we need to realize your freedom isn't free. it really isn't. thousands of soldiers have died for our country. i don't look at it just as three unknown soldiers i'm guarding, i look all the soldiers that gave their live for this country. >> october 3, 2009. a storm of bullet s rockets, grenades and mortars rained down on a u.s. outpost in eastern afghanistan deep it in a valley. the taliban had found a perfect target, keating. studied by the enemy since it was set up three years before as seen in the taliban's own video. time and again since the post was kraicreated in 2006, its defenses were tested by the taliban. but on that october morning in 2009, the enemy staged its fiercest attack yet. the high ground and their vastly superior numbers gave the taliban a huge advantage. eight americans would be killed in a battle that lasted from dawn till dusk and would come to symbolize the end of a military strategy to hold remote mountainous outposts constantly under attack. but from the blood and embers, these faces of heroism. soldiers laying down their lives for their brothers. bravery rarely matched in american military history. good afternoon, i'm jake tapper. on this memorial day, we have a special edition of "the lead" for you. in the more than 11 years that the united states has been fighting in afghanistan, more than 2,000 americans have been killed with more than 18,000 wounded. also during that time presidents bush and obama have awarded seven american service members the highest award the congressional medal of honor for actions in that war. three of those awards have been made posthumously, but this is the story of the seventh american service member to be awarded the medal of honor, former staff sergeant clint romeshay who today lives in minot, north dakota. it's 4:45 a.m. the sun is not yet up, but clint sure is. beginning his commute to his job as field safety specialist for an oil field construction firm. leaving his wife and three children behind. it's a dark 90-minute drive. plenty of time to reminisce about another place open the other si -- on the other side of the world. afghanistan. >> can't help but think about jones strumming away on that guitar. >> that's private chris jones who often lightened the mood for his fellow soldiers in the middle of the war zone. >> jones playing that guitar in his quirky little songs is always a memory that gives a chuckle to my heart whenever i look back. for me, you know, i don't sit there and try to reflect on the bad stuff. >> long before the bad stuff, clint romesha lived an i'd il ick life in lake city, california, with his parents, two older brothers and two sisters. both brothers joined the military after high school, following in the footsteps of their father, a vietnam veteran. >> we all looked up to dad, you know, looked up to my grandfather, world war ii vet. it's just a whole family service that i always knew i would serve, always wanted to serve. >> he joined the army in 1999 and operatedkosovo. by 2001, romesha was stationed in germany. on 9/11, a colonel called the troops together. >> he let us know that there had been two planes that flew into the world trade center and that our lives were about to change and to be ready, take the training to heart. >> you're getting emotional talking about that, remembering that. why? >> you know, it was an emotional day for everybody in america, you know. it was one of those things that it the average american just didn't see coming. you know, i had never thought that terror would be that close to our front door. >> by 2004, the u.s. would be waging war on two fronts. in afghanistan and in iraq where romesha was sent as a tank driver and gunner. on his second deployment in 2006, romesha became a scout. >> the idea of being a scout, sneaking around being your most effective weapon being the fact that no one knows you're there and having that radio on your back to call in for the help and the support to engage and destroy the enemy was just one of those hollywood jazzy jobs that always excited me. >> as romesha was sneaking around iraq, his wife tammy was raising their first daughter des in san diego. military couples deal with separation differently. some talk and e-mail constantly. others, like clint romesha, find they must concentrate solely on the mission of staying alive. >> it was hard to sit there and make those phone calls and hear about desi and her first day at school or her first words, you know. just couldn't do anything about it. to have that distract you, for me personally, was something that wasn't the time and place, you know. focus on the mission. focus on getting the guys home. >> romesha's next deployment would be to newer stan province in eastern afghanistan to combat outpost keating, a base that many american soldiers thought never should have been built at all. outpost keating was built in 2006. with so many troops and assets deployed to iraq, those in afghanistan had to make do. one part of the strategy was to build small outposts as the u.s. pushed into eastern afghanistan. the location was a trap, evident from the moment romesha's unit arrived in may 2009. >> what was your first reaction? >> first reaction was, i think the same as everyone that stepped foot there. this is a pretty indefensible spot. >> i thought we was supposed to be on top of a mountain. this is crazy. i mean, that's how i felt, you know. shooting up? but, i mean, you just -- i was there, you know. i can't be, like, this is stupid. >> the outpost was in the hindu cush mountain range in the part of the world where you're either on a mountain or in the valley below. in order to be close to the population or the road, combat outpost keating was at the bottom of three steep mountains. soldiers had been fatally attacked there before. in 2007, private chris pfeiffer. in 2008, camp commander captain rob yeskis. and near there a different camp commander, captain tom boss tick. as lethal as its position was the outpost's terrain. the camp was named for lieutenant ben keating, killed when his truck rolled over the treacherous side of the road leading to the camp. >> i knew it was a bad spot, and i knew that previous commanders had expired there. but to sit there and dig up every little detail on it, you know, it just -- it wasn't healthy for the guys to be exposed to that kind of information. >> so you'r very first day at combat outpost keating there was an attack and a soldier with the platoon leaving, shane scherer, got a massive head wound. other guys got sprinkled with shrapnel. >> to have that instant, you know, action and that reality check right off the bet really helped set the tempo to know what to prep the guys for, but it also gave you that instant sense of, we're not over here selling girl scout cookies, guys. we're in a real fight. >> romesha and his men knew it was not a question of if there would be a major attack but when.