CBN News reports that President Barack Obama mistook a fallen soldier for a living one when he spoke to troops at Fort Drum today:
First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously.
In fact, as CBN notes:
The problem is, Jared Monti was killed in action in Afghanistan, on June 21, 2006. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, September 17, 2009. President Obama handed the framed medal to his parents, Paul and Janet Monti. He and the First Lady comforted them in the Oval Office following the ceremony.
President Obama seems to have confused Monti with Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta, to whom he awarded the Medal of Honor last year–the first living recipient in decades.