President Obama on Monday awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor, to two soldiers who served in Vietnam: Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie Adkins, who survived a harrowing battle and 18 body wounds; and Army Spc. 4 Donald P. Sloat, whose dying act saved his fellow soldiers.
In January 1970, President Obama said Monday, Sloat was on patrol with his squad in Vietnam.
"The lead soldier tripped a wire — a booby trap. A grenade rolled toward the feet of a 20-year-old machine gunner." That 20-year-old was Sloat. And as President Obama tells it, Sloat had a choice.