During 3rd Brigade Combat Team's 10-year history with the 10th Mountain Division (LI), the unit has seen heroism, dedication and sacrifice.
Two Soldiers stood out among the rest and were awarded the nation's highest honor for bravery -- the Medal of Honor.
The Family of Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti, 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, received the award on his behalf Sept. 17, 2009, during a ceremony at the White House. Monti was killed June 21, 2006, in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, after making several attempts to rescue another Soldier who had been wounded during a battle with Taliban fighters.
A leader who was dedicated to his Soldiers, Monti risked his life to save another when his 16-man patrol was attacked by 50 insurgents.
"Jared Monti did something no amount of training can instill," Obama said. "His patrol leader said he'd go, but Jared said: 'No. He is my Soldier; I am going to get him.'"
Monti braved massive enemy rifle and rocket fire three times in attempt to reach the Soldier, who was some 20 yards away. He tried to reach his Soldier a third time, but was fatally wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Obama said Monti's last words were: "I've made peace with God; tell my Family that I love them."
Monti's final charge was witnessed by his patrol leader, who later commented that "'it was the bravest thing I had ever seen a Soldier do,'" Obama said.
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Capt. William D. Swenson, who was attached to 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment as an embedded adviser to the Afghan Border Police, received the Medal of Honor on Oct. 15, 2013, during a White Houseceremony.
He was recognized for his heroism during a six-hour battle that followed a deadly Taliban ambush in Afghanistan on Sept. 8, 2009.
Swenson is credited with saving more than a dozen lives during the Battle of Ganjal in Kunar Province. He was the second service member to receive the award for that battle, after Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer, who was honored in 2011.
On that day, a group of Afghan soldiers and their American advisers planned to meet with village elders, but they were ambushed by more than 60 enemy fighters. Insurgents quickly surrounded four service members.
Swenson also was pinned down. Realizing that his NCO was gravely wounded, Swenson provided care as he called in medevac support. He fought back and risked his life getting him to the helicopter.
Swenson then drove an unarmored vehicle straight into the kill zone to rescue injured Afghan forces and recover the four fallen service members.
"Will and the others (carried) them out, one by one," Obama said. "They (brought) their fallen brothers home."
"Capt. Will Swenson was a leader," he continued. "But like all great leaders, he was also a servant -- to the men he commanded, to the more than a dozen Afghans and Americans whose lives he saved, to the Families of those who gave their last full measure of devotion on that faraway field."
"The value of an award is truly what we as a nation put into it, what we value it as," Swenson said. "This award is earned with a team -- a team of our finest Marines, Army, Air Force, Navy and our Afghan partners standing side by side. Now that team includes Gold Star Families who lost their fathers, sons and husbands that day. This medal represents them -- it represents us."
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