Army Sgt. receives highest military honor

President Barack Obama awards U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ty M. Carter the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington D.C., Aug. 26, 2013.

Carter received the medal for his courageous actions while serving as a cavalry scout during combat operations in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan on Oct. 3, 2009.

Carter is the fifth living recipient to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Read more: Obama awards Medal of Honor to Army Staff Sergeant Ty Carter

Sgt. Carter is being awarded the country's highest military honor for his actions in a battle in Nuristan Province. During the Oct. 3, 2009 battle at Combat Outpost Keating, Carter rescued a fellow soldier and carried him through a hail of bullets, unarmed. On that day nearly 300 insurgents, armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, surrounded the outpost. Fifty-three Americans were stationed there; eight were killed in the battle, and 22 were wounded.

In this photo, Staff Sgt. Ty M. Carter stands guard at a hasty traffic control point in West Kandahar City, Afghanistan, sometime between May and July 2012.

Staff Sgt. Jimmy Justice, a section leader, and Carter sight in their M14 sniper rifles at the Observation Point Fritsche helicopter landing zone, June 2009, as an Afghan National Army soldier observes. The Soldiers wanted to collect data on how their bullets traveled at that particular altitude.

Ty M. Carter sits for his first grade portrait at Gehringer Elementary School in Oakley, Calif., 1986-1987.

Carter, Spc. Cody Floyd, Spc. Christopher T. Griffin, Sgt Eric Harder, Sgt. John Francis, Staff Sgt. Kirk Birchfield, Sgt. Scott Potempa, Spc. Michael Scusa, Pvt. Edward Faulkner and Pfc. Daniel Rogers gather for a "thank you" photo at Combat Outpost Keating, August 2009, for the canned foods donated by Harder's mother and her friends. Soldiers had a very limited diet at the remote outpost, with hot food being rare.

Sgt. Ty M. Carter and his wife Shannon, pause for a photo on their wedding day, March 17, 2012, along the waterfront in Tacoma, Wash.

Spc. Ty M. Carter and Spc. Jonathan Adams, the Blue Platoon forward observer, look at the village of Kamdesh, Afghanistan, while on their first patrol out of Observation Point Fritsche, May 2009.

Sgt. Ty M. Carter pauses for a final photo with his wife Shannon before deploying from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., May 2012, with A Troop, 8-1 Cavalry, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. This was the last time they would see each other for more than six months.

Spc. Ty M. Carter and Spc. Jonathan Adams, the Blue Platoon forward observer, look at the village of Kamdesh, Afghanistan, while on their first patrol out of Observation Point Fritsche, May 2009.

Sgt. Ty M. Carter, part of the White Platoon fire team, 8-1 Cavalry, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, provides overwatch on a road near Dahla Dam, Afghanistan, July 2012.

Staff Sgt. Ty M. Carter and his family, son Jayden, wife Shannon, daughter Sehara, and daughter Madison in a family photo taken on their farm in Yelm, Wash., July, 2013.

Staff Sgt. Ty M. Carter participates in a meeting with local authorities at an Afghan National Police compound in West Kandahar City, Afghanistan, sometime between May and July 2012. The U.S. forces regularly met with local officials and leaders to assess their needs and provide assistance the local authorities where needed.

Staff Sgt. Ty Carter's wife Shannon, his daughter Sehara, his son Jayden, and his daughter Madison, along with family dogs Nala and Karma, pause for a photo along the rim of Crater Lake, Ore., during a family vacation, June 2013.

Spc. Ty M. Carter provides security for Afghans voting on election day, from halfway up North Face Mountain near Combat Outpost Keating.

President Obama looks to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ty M. Carter after awarding him the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry, Aug. 26, 2013.

President Obama shakes hands with Staff Sgt. Ty M. Carter after awarding him the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry, Aug. 26, 2013.

President Obama acknowledges those who served with Staff Sgt. Carter as they stand during a ceremony to award Carter the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry, Aug. 26, 2013.