 Ladies and gentlemen, please join me as we mark this very special occasion. In gracious and merciful Lord, you are the giver of life, the igniter of faith, provider of hope, and the author of love. Mighty one, oh ancient of days, you have commanded us to be strong and courageous in life or in death because you are always with us. Receive your servant's most humble prayer as we gather today to honor and celebrate three selfless exemplars of unquestioned commitment and courageous valor. Father, we are thankful for Master Sergeant Earl Plumlee, Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cash and Sergeant First Class Christopher Slees who embody the sacrificial willingness to lay down one's life for their friends. Each of these men took heroic actions in the face of fear and certain death. Lord, you gave our nation and army the heart of a special forces warrior to free the oppressed, the soul of a dog-faced soldier with a can-do attitude, and the fighting spirit of a ranger to lead the way. When our nation asked who will go, each of these men declared, here I am, send me. Faith, hope, and love propelled these men to display the compassion, care, and commitment necessary to throw themselves into the fray to save others. As a grateful nation, help us today as we bestow its highest honor on these men of valor who distinguished themselves at the risk of their own lives above and beyond the call of duty. Bless those that we honor today and I thank you for the many family members, comrades in arms, and dear friends who are here with us today and others in spirit to support them. May the actions of these men in the crucible of combat inspire others to personal courage and selfless service. Keep the lamp of liberty shining forth brightly across our nation and let us all would serve as a beacon of hope for the freedom-loving people. It is in your holy, majestic, and magnificent name that I pray. Amen. Please be seated, thank you. Good afternoon and welcome to the East Room of the White House, decorated for the holiday season and to celebrate the gift of gratitude. It's an appropriate backdrop for this ceremony, we believe, because our hearts are overflowing with gratitude today as we honor the unparalleled courage and commitment to duty and the indispensable, indisputable gallantry and it's just hard to explain where your soldiers got the courage they got. The late Sergeant First Class, Al-Wankash, late Sergeant First Class, Christopher Salees, Master Sergeant Earl Plumley, Plumley. In our nation's newest recipients of our highest military award, the Medal of Honor. I want to thank all of our distinguished guests that are here today, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Secretary of the Secretary of Austin, the Enlisted Advisor, Chairman Colin Lopez and the leaders of the United States Army, and the Vice President of the United States and the second gentleman, and I'm Jill's husband. Jill is here. As we add these three names to our nation's role of honor, I also want to recognize previous Medal of Honor recipients who are here today to honor their brothers and arms, Matthew Williams, Matthew, stand up for people to see. Thomas Paine and Edward Byers. Each of you know what it means to stare down danger and summon the strength in the moment of trial. We're grateful for all that you three have done, so many more. And the family of Sergeant First Class Almond Chase has been 16 years, this has been 16 years in coming. Representative Murphy, Representative Walz, thank you for your efforts, continued efforts, along with the team of Sergeant Gash's commanders, commander-in-arms, his medical team and the family who worked with such dedication over so many years to make this recognition possible. October 17th, 2005, Sergeant Gash was commanding a bradley fighting vehicle on night patrol in Iraq. They came under enemy fire and improvised a close advice detonating it, igniting the vehicle's fuel and engulfing it in flames. Sergeant extracted himself and without hesitation turned back to the vehicle to help free the driver and extinguish flames on the driver. In the process, Sergeant First Class Gash uniform drenched in fuel caught fire causing severe burns. Patrol was still taking enemy fire, but Gash thought only of his fellow soldiers trapped in the troop compartment. So he pushed his own pain aside to return to the burning vehicle and pulled four soldiers free, four more. At this point, with the second and third degree burns covering almost 75 percent of his body, his uniform mostly burned away, the sergeants saw there were still two soldiers and their interpreter on account of four. So he went back into the inferno for a third time and got everyone out of that inferno. That was his code. His love for his third infantry division ran deep. No soldier was going to be left behind on his watch. When helicopters began to arrive, he insisted that his troops be evacuated before he would go. Later, a Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, where he and other members of his team were taken for treatment. When he regained the ability to speak, his first thoughts were for his units. He asked, first thing, how are my boys? How are my boys? Alvin Gash was a soldier-soldier, a warrior who literally walked through fire for his troops. Soldiers succumbed to his injuries in November 8, 2005, surrounded by those he loved and loved him. He was a hero. He was a beloved son and brother, a proud husband and a father of three children. Sergeant Cash and his family gave everything for our country. The devotion to his memory and their years working to make sure that his courage and selflessness were properly documented and honored is a testament to the love he inspired and the legacy he left behind. Sergeant First Class Cash is now the seventh individual to receive a Medal of Honor for his actions in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first African-American to receive it since the Vietnam War. And Tamara, Alexis, Casano, I'm so honored toward your husband, your dad, your brother, the recognition that he earned. I know it's tough. As honored as you are, it's got to be tough to be here today. He'll be remembered. He'll be remembered forever. Sergeant First Class Christopher Salees was an Army Ranger through and through with one, seven, five. The Rangers lead the way. On July 12th, 2018, near in the end of the fifth deployment, the fifth deployment, Sergeant Salees was leading an operation in the Petica province of Afghanistan. Not a very friendly place to clear the area of enemy forces. Attacked and pinned down by a large force, the sergeant exposed himself to the enemy fire in order to retrieve a heavy weapon system that allowed his team to fight back and reach the secure location. During the firefight, a member of his team was critically wounded as they called for medical evacuation. But as the rescue helicopter arrived and began taking fire as well, the sergeant knew his time was critical to get his wounded teammate loaded and treated. So he once again knowingly and willingly stepped into the enemy's crosshairs. Sergeant Salees used his body as a shield for the aircraft and his crew against the heavy incoming fire. Helicopter began to take off and he put himself directly between the cockpit and the enemy, ensuring the aircraft could depart and sustaining what would prove to be a mortal wound. He knew it was hit, but he waved for the air crew to depart without him. In the face of extreme danger, he placed the safety of his team and his crew above his own. I can offer no better encapsulation than the words of U.S. Army Ambulance Pilot in command that day. He said, quote, courage to me is putting your life on the line to save the life of another. As demonstrated by Sergeant First Class Chris Salees who died protecting my crew, end of quote. Christopher Salees was courage made flesh. Today, we add his name to the elite vanguard of American warriors who generation after generation have strengthened and inspired our nation with their unwavering bravery and service. His legacy lives on, the lives he saved, the teammates he mentored and the memories he made with his beloved wife, Katie. And especially in their precious daughter, Shannon, thank you for sharing your dad with our country, Shannon. We'll never forget the debt that we owe you and your old family. August 28, 2013, then Staff Sergeant Earl Pumlee was snapping a quick photo with members of his unit at Forward Operation Base Gosney in Afghanistan. Then insurgents turned out detonated a 400-pound car bomb that blew open a 60-foot-wide breach in a perimeter wall. Staff Sergeant Pumlee, the members of his special operations team, immediately hopped in the nearby truck and raced toward the blast to defend the base. When they arrived, they encountered insurgents coming through the wall, all wearing explosive vests. Our troops started taking rocket fire, recoilless rifle fire, and small arms fire. While the driver of their truck maneuvered into the line of enemy fire to shield injured members of their team outside the vehicle, the Staff Sergeant exited the vehicle and used his own body to shield the driver. He left whatever cover the truck provided him and began to engage the invaders. Outnumbered with no regard for his own safety, at times armed with only a pistol, Staff Sergeant Pumlee attacked the insurgent forces, taking them on one by one. And time and again, bullets flew by, sometimes only inches away. And time and again, Staff Sergeant Pumlee closed with the enemy. And multiple occasions during the fight, the insurgents detonated their vests right in front of him, Pumlee, at one point hurling him into a wall and injured his back. When a fellow soldier was severely wounded, Pumlee immediately ran to the soldier's position, carried him to safety, and administered tactical combat casualty care before returning to the fight. Ultimately, Staff Sergeant Pumlee was able to organize three Polish soldiers to mount an effective defense of the base, clear the area, and regain the security posture. His heroic actions in the battlefield leadership gained the recognition of some of our highest military commanders, including the man who knows a little bit about battles, our chairman of our joint chiefs, General Milley and General McConnell, who are here today, who are here today to honor him as well. They saw extraordinary bravery when then Staff Sergeant Pumlee did, and they understood the worst outcome he prevented from taking place. They understood what would have happened had he not done what he did. Now, Master Sergeant Pumlee has, this recognition has been too long and coming delayed for you and your family as well, and no one. No one will ever forget how you sprang into action when the enemy attacked our base. I'm grateful for your continued service and dedication to the country, and that goes for your wife, Terry, and your children, Lily, and the Lincoln as well. Because it's not just the person who wears the uniform or serves. It's the whole family who serves. The sleepless nights, the missed holidays, the empty chairs, the celebrations, the way you give back to your community. The English poet John Milton once wrote, they also serve who only stand and wait. They also serve who only stand and wait. While today we honor three outstanding soldiers whose actions embody the highest ideals of selfless service, we also remember the high price our military members and their families are willing to pay on behalf of our nation. We remember the strength and the sacrifices of these military families, caregivers, and survivors. And we remember and renew our sacred obligation to those who serve this nation in uniform. As a nation, we have many obligations to our children, the elderly, those in need, but we have only one truly sacred obligation, sacred obligation. That's to properly prepare and equip those troops we send in a harm's way, care for them and their families, both while they're deployed and when they return. That commitment never expires. And as Commander-in-Chief, I promise it's a commitment that we will keep. So God bless you all. And may God protect the troops who are out there right now. Now it's my great honor to ask for the citations to be read and award the Medal of Honor to Sergeant First Class Alwin Chase, Sergeant First Class Christopher Sleaze, and Master Sergeant Earl Pumlee. Will the Cache family please join the President on stage? Attention orders. The President of the United States of America, authorized by active Congress March 3rd, 1863, has possibly awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to Sergeant First Class Alwin C. Cache, United States Army for conspicuous gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sergeant First Class Alwin C. Cache distinguished himself by acts of gallantry above and beyond the call of duty while serving as platoon sergeant with Company A, First Battalion 15th Infantry Regiment, Third Brigade, Third Infantry Division, and Saladin Province, Iraq, on October 17, 2005. While on a nighttime amount of patrol near an enemy-laden village, the Bradley fighting vehicle which Sergeant First Class Cache was commanding was attacked by enemy Smaller's Fire and an improvised explosive device which disabled the vehicle and engulfed it in flames. After extracting himself from the vehicle, Sergeant First Class Cache said about extracting the driver who was tracked in the vehicle. After opening the driver's hatch, Sergeant First Class Cache and a fellow soldier extracted the driver who was golfing the flames. During the course of extinguishing the flames on the driver and extracting him from the vehicle, Sergeant First Class Cache's fuel soaked his uniform, igniting and causing severe burns to his body. Ignoring his painful wounds, Sergeant First Class Cache then moved to the rear of the vehicle to continue in aiding his fellow soldiers who were trapped in the troop compartment. At this time, the enemy noted his movements and began to correct their fire on his position. When another element of the company engaged the enemy, Sergeant First Class Cache seized the opportunity and moved to the open troop door and aided four of his soldiers in escaping the burning vehicle. Having extracted the four soldiers, Sergeant First Class Cache noticed two other soldiers had not been accounted for and again he entered the building to retrieve them. At this time, reinforcements arrived to further suppress the enemy established a casual collection point. Despite the severe second and third degree burns, covering the majority of his body, Sergeant First Class Cache persevered through the pain to encourage his fellow soldiers and ensure they received needed medical care. When medical evacuation helicopters began to arrive, Sergeant First Class Cache selflessly refused evacuation until all of the other wounded soldiers were evacuated first. Sergeant First Class Cache's extraordinary heroism and selfishness above and beyond the call of duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military, service and reflectory credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army. Side, Joseph, R, Biden, V, President of the United States. Will the Solis family please accompany the President? Attention orders! The President of the United States of America, authorized by active Congress March 3rd, 1863, has possibly awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to Sergeant First Class Christopher A. Solis, United States Army for conspicuous gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sergeant First Class Christopher A. Solis distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty while engaged with the enemy in Pakia Province, Afghanistan on July 12th, 2018. As a leader of a special purpose unit comprised of partner forces and members of the 1st Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment, Sergeant First Class Solis led an operation to clear area of enemy forces and thereby disrupt future attacks against the government of Afghanistan and allied forces. Shortly after his team reached their final objectives, a large enemy force attacked placed effective fire on him and his team preventing them from maneuvering to counterattack. Realizing the danger the attack posed to his team in the operation, Sergeant First Class Solis voluntarily exposed himself to intense enemy machine gun and small arms fire to retrieve and deploy a heavy weapon system. Thereby allowing U.S. and partner forces to regain the initiative, maneuver to a secure location and begin treatment of a critically wounded partner force member. As the medical evacuation helicopter arrived, it was immediately engaged by accurate and sustained enemy fire. Knowing how critical it was to quickly load the casualty, Sergeant First Class Solis willingly exposed himself to heavy enemy fire to direct and lead the evacuation. As the casualty moved from position of cover and out into intense enemy fire, Sergeant First Class Solis made a conscious effort to ensure his body acted as a physical shield to his team carrying the casualty and the crew of the aircraft. As the casualty was loaded and Sergeant First Class Solis' team returned to cover, he alone remained at the aircraft returning a high volume of fire and constantly repositioning himself to act as a physical shield to the aircraft and its crew. With his final reposition, Sergeant First Class Solis placed himself directly between the cockpit and the enemy, ensuring the aircraft was able to park. As the helicopter lifted off, Sergeant First Class Solis was hit by enemy fire, fully aware of his own injury, but understanding the peril to the aircraft from the intense enemy machine gun fire, Sergeant First Class Solis motioned to the aircraft to depart rather than the terrain behind to load in. His selfless actions saved the life of the evacuated partner force member and almost certainly prevented further casualties among other members of his team and the air crew. Throughout the entire engagement, Sergeant First Class Solis significantly changed the course of battle by repeatedly placing himself in extreme danger to protect his team to defeat the enemy and ultimately cost him his life. Sergeant First Class Solis is extraordinary heroism and selfless above and beyond the call of duty. We're in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army. Signed, Joseph R. Bidin, the President of the United States. Mass Sergeant Plumlee, will you please accompany the President? Attention orders. The President of the United States of America authorized by active Congress, March 3rd, 1863, has possibly awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor too. Staff Sergeant Earl D. Plumlee, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry at the risk of his life and above and beyond the call of duty. Staff Sergeant Earl D. Plumlee distinguished himself by acts of gallantry above and beyond the call of duty on August 28, 2013, while serving as a weapon sergeant, sea company, Fort Battalion, First Special Forces Group Airborne, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Sergeant Plumlee instantly responded to an enemy attack on forward operating base Gosney, Gosney Province, Afghanistan, that began with an explosion that tore a 60-foot breach in the base's perimeter wall. Ten insurgents wearing Afghan National Army uniforms and suicide vests poured through the breach. Sergeant Plumlee and five others mounted two vehicles and raced towards the explosion. When his vehicle was engaged by enemy fire, Sergeant Plumlee reacted instinctively, using his body to shield the driver prior to exiting the vehicle and engaging an enemy insurgent 15 meters to the vehicles right with his pistol. Without cover and complete disregard for his own safety, he advanced on the enemy, engaging multiple insurgents with only his pistol. Upon reaching cover, he killed two insurgents, one with their grenade and the other by detonating the insurgent's suicide vest using precision sniper fire. Again, disregarding his own safety, Sergeant Plumlee advanced alone against the enemy, engaging several insurgents at close range, including one whose suicide vest exploded a mere seven meters from his position. Under intense enemy fire, Sergeant Plumlee temporarily withdrew to cover, where he joined up with another soldier and together they mounted another counterattack. Under fierce enemy fire, Sergeant Plumlee again moved from cover and attacked the enemy forces, advancing with seven meters of a previously wounded insurgent who detonated his suicide vest, blowing Sergeant Plumlee back against the nearby wall. Sergeant Plumlee ignoring his injuries, quickly regained his faculties and re-engaged the enemy forces. Intense enemy fire once again forced the two soldiers to temporarily withdraw. Undeterred, Sergeant Plumlee joined a small group of American Polish soldiers who moved from cover to once again counterattack the infiltrators. As the force advanced, Sergeant Plumlee engaged an insurgent to his front left he then swung around and engaged another insurgent who charged the group from the rear. The insurgent detonated his suicide vest, morally wounding a U.S. soldier. Sergeant Plumlee again, without complete disregard with it for his own safety, ran to the wounded soldier, carried him to safety and rendered first aid. He then methodically cleared the area, remained in a secure posture and continued to scan for any remaining threats. Staff Sergeant Earl D. Plumlee's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Special Forces Regiment and the United States Army. Signed, Joseph R. Biden. The President of the United States. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me as we conclude this ceremony in prayer. Most holy God, as we leave this ceremony, inspire us and lead us to greater acts of service. May we have the audacity to follow the examples of the warriors we honored here today. Bless Master Sergeant Plumlee, the Cache and Salis families, as the names of these men are etched into our nation's proud history. May their leadership and legacies mark the truest north for us to seek and may we all strive to be strong and courageous in the face of challenges that life may bring. Finally, we pray that you will give our leaders wisdom as they serve our nation and our Army's people and that you will bless and protect the men and women of our Armed Forces as they preserve those precious freedoms. I ask these things in your most gracious and holy name. Amen. Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats as the President and First Lady and Vice President and Second Gentleman depart.