Obama to Award Medal of Honor to Fallen Soldier's Family

American Forces Press Service

Sept. 16, 2009 - President Barack Obama is scheduled tomorrow to award the Medal of Honor to Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti at a White House ceremony. The ceremony will mark Obama's first award of the nation's highest military honor, and the sixth Medal of Honor awarded since Sept. 11, 2001.

Obama will present the award posthumously to Monti's family. His parents, Paul and Janet Monti, are scheduled to accept the award. He also is survived by a brother, sister and niece.

Monti, of Raynham, Mass., was 30 when he was killed June 21, 2006, in a firefight in Gowardesh, Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. He was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division's 3rd Squadron, 71st Calvary, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, out of Fort Drum, N.Y.

Monti enlisted in March 1993 and attended basic training and advanced individual training at Fort Sill, Okla. His military honors include the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, five Army Commendation Medals, four Army Achievement Medals, three Good Conduct Medals and three National Defense Service Medals.

He was posthumously promoted to sergeant first class.

The Medal of Honor is awarded to servicemembers who distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in military action against an enemy of the United States.

The award for extraordinary merit has been bestowed on 3,447 men and one woman since President Abraham Lincoln signed it into law Dec. 21, 1861. Monti is the sixth servicemember to receive the Medal of Honor -- all posthumously -- for service since 9/11.