There were 53 US troops at Combat Outpost Keating, Afghanistan on the morning of Oct. 3, 2009. While they had been attacked many times before, on that morning at 6 AM everything went to hell.
The quiet mountain dawn broke to an overwhelming onslaught of more than 300 Taliban fighters attacking almost instantaneously.
The attackers had one goal, as detailed in "The Outpost", a riveting account of the battle written by journalist Jake Tapper: overrun and capture the base.
Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha wasn't going to let that happen. “We weren’t going to be beat that day," he later said.
As fighters breached the perimeter of the camp, Romesha calmly rallied his men to repel the assault even after he was wounded. For his actions that day, he is being awarded the Medal of Honor on Feb. 11.
“Undeterred by his injuries, Staff Sergeant Romesha continued to fight and upon the arrival of another soldier to aid him and the assistant gunner, he again rushed through the exposed avenue to assemble additional soldiers," reads part of his citation.
It continues: “With complete disregard for his own safety, (he) continually exposed himself to heavy enemy fire as he moved confidently about the battlefield engaging and destroying multiple enemy targets.”
According to Army Times, the attack was one of the deadliest in the Afghan war, resulting in eight American soldiers killed, and two dozen others wounded.
Jake Tapper has collected a number of photos of Romesha and he agreed to share them with Business Insider Military & Defense.
For more information about the story of COP Keating and the Oct 3 battle, check out Jake's book "The Outpost".
Like all the soldiers of his unit MoH recipient Romesha received extensive training before heading overseas.
Members of Romesha's 3-61 "Black Knight Troop" took some group photos once they hit Afghanistan — Romesha is on the far left.
Their accommodations at the Combat Outpost were cramped and spartan. Most of the buildings would be later rocked by explosions or catch on fire.
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