SSG (ret) Ryan Pitts, 18 APR 16

On a hot summer morning in 2008 at a Vehicle Patrol Base near Wanat Village, in Kunar Province, Afghanistan a firefight broke out between a platoon of American soldiers and over 200 Anti-Afghan Fighters. SSG (ret) Ryan Pitts was serving as a Forward Observer in the 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2-503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade when he was near mortally wounded after taking an open barrage of shrapnel to his legs and parts of his upper body. He spoke of his ordeal, and the heroism of his fellow soldiers, to a packed Robinson Auditorium on Monday, April 18.