thank you. i wish i was that popular. i will tell you. [laughter] today is a real truly proud and special day for us at the white house because ron works right here alongside of us on the secret service counter assault team. these are incredible people. several weeks ago my staff asked ron and his wife-mile-an-hour darks thank you, miranda, to a meeting in the west wing. they didn t know what it was about they walked into the oval office and i told him he was going to receive our nation s highest honor. it was a moment i will never forget ron and miranda joined today by their two beautiful sons cammeron who is 10 and tyler who is 7. stand up. look at these guys. [applause]
when he reached the bales of the mountain, ron raced to each patient giving them life-saving care. they were bleeding profusely and preparing them to be evacuated by helicopter but ron was not done yet. he charged back to the mountain all the way up and then rejoined the fight. for more than six hours, ron bravely faced down the enemy, not a single american died in that brutal battle thanks in great american to ron s heroic actions. many of the warriors who fought in shock valley are here today. when i read your name, will you please stand. staff sergeant dillon baier. [applause] stand up, stay up, please.
immediately, ron climbed the rockie mountain all the while fighting back against the enemy and dodging gunfire left and right. rockets were shot at him, everything was shot at him. when he reached the top, one of his close friends, an afghan interpreter was already dead. two americans had been shot, dylann baier and luis morales. he treated them both to stabilize them and their condition. ron threw his body on top of dillon to protect him from shrapnel. it was there on that cliff that ron realized and i guess he felt pretty much that was it, right, ron? ron realized this was probably the end might be all over, as he recounts i just said a prayer and ask that my wife and son would
thank you very much for being with us. these are very brave, great people. staff sergeant ron shurer was born in alaska. he grew up in a military family moving to four states before middle school. he graduated from washington state university and applied to join the military, but was rejected due to a medical condition. i can t believe they rejected you. that was a bad mistake, but they made up for it, right? they made up for it. soon after america was attacked on september 11th, 2001, determined to serve, ron reapplied to the military and was accepted into the united states army. he became a medic and then he completed the grueling training to join the legendary ranks of the green berets. that s a long way from not
be okay with what was going to happen then i just went back to work. one of his teammates john walden was shot almost severing his leg entirely. as ron was still rendering life-saving aide to dale loan he rendered aid to stop the bleeding. master arm and struck ron s helmet. ron said it felt like he had been hit on the head with a baseball bat. but he got up, and in pretty bad shape, manage bandaged scots arm. ron and his colleagues used nylon webbing to lower down dangerous and steep clip.