Chosen few: Pitts returns to Italy

Photo By Master Sgt. Opal Vaughn | Former active duty U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts, recent Medal of Honor recipient discusses resiliency with the Soldiers of Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade during an open discussion August 1, 2014, Del Din, Vicenza. Pitts is the ninth living veteran of Afghanistan or Iraq to receive the Medal of Honor. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Opal Vaughn)  

VICENZA, ITALY

08.01.2014

Story by Staff Sgt. Opal Vaughn  

173rd Airborne Brigade

VICENZA, Italy - Just days after destroying a gavel while ringing in the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, former Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts returned to Italy to visit paratroopers from his former unit here July 30 to Aug. 2 after being awarded the nation’s highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, by President Barack Obama.

Pitts visited the brigade at it’s new home in Vicenza at Caserma Del Din, built since he departed the unit, and the Army, in 2009.

“It’s an honor to come back to Italy. It’s like coming home,” the New Hampshire native said. “It’s amazing to see how much this place has changed.”

Pitts distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Forward Observer in 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, during combat operations against an armed enemy at Vehicle Patrol Base Kahler in the vicinity of Wanat Village, Kunar province, Afghanistan, July 13, 2008.

Now known as the Battle of Wanat, Pitt’s actions allowed U.S. forces time to reinforce the observation post over watching the patrol base and bring-in airstrikes, which turned the tide of the battle.

Pitts, now 28, has since transitioned to civilian life temporarily leaving his job at a computer technology corporation to receive the medal and conduct an outreach tour to tell the story of the valor that day. Pitts spent the majority of his time in the Army here in Vicenza, assigned to the brigade.

During several question and answer sessions with paratroopers here, Pitts talked about life after the battle and what the award means to him.

“I refuse to give the enemy the satisfaction of knowing that they’ve taken away any of my enjoyment from life coming home. I won’t give them that,” said Pitts. “In those moments, it was all about the guy to your left or your right. It’s difficult for me to see this as an individual award. To me it feels like anything but an individual award. We did all that together.”

In total, nine lives were lost that day: Spc. Sergio Abad, Cpl. Jonathan Ayers, Cpl. Jason Bogar, 1st Lt. Jonathan Brostrom, Sgt. Israel Garcia, Cpl. Jason Hovater, Cpl. Matthew Phillips, Cpl. Pruitt Rainey and Cpl. Gunnar Zwilling.

During his visit, Pitts was hailed and applauded by leaders and paratroopers across the brigade, but he consistently put the spotlight on those men who fought alongside him that day.

“I wouldn’t even be here if weren’t for a lot of the actions of those guys,” said Pitt’s. “Valor really was everywhere and in my observation, we were just doing our jobs.”

Pitts, now 28, has since transitioned to civilian life, temporarily leaving his job at a computer technology corporation in order to conduct the tour. He is the ninth living veteran of Afghanistan or Iraq to receive the Medal of Honor, and the third paratrooper from the brigade, the most of any unit in the military.

The 173rd Airborne is the Army contingency response force in Europe, and is capable of projecting forces to conduct the full of range of military operations across the U.S. European, Central and Africa Commands areas of responsibility.

• Date Taken: 08.01.2014
• Date Posted: 08.18.2014 04:12
• Story ID: 139614
• Location: VICENZA, IT
• Hometown: NASHUA, NH, US