WASHINGTON – Saluting a “fallen hero,” President Donald Trump bestowed the Medal of Honor Wednesday on an American soldier who gave his life to protect three comrades from a suicide bomber in Iraq.

Army Staff Sgt. Travis Atkins, at age 31, died on June 1, 2007, after he tackled an Iraqi insurgent who was trying to detonate his bomb vest; Atkins wrapped himself around the man as the bomb exploded, protecting three colleagues from the blast.

“He put himself on top of the enemy and he shielded his men from certain death,” Trump said during a White House ceremony.

“In his final moments on earth,” Trump said, “Travis did not run.”

In an account of the incident, the Defense Department said, “Without pausing, Atkins bear-hugged the man from behind, threw him to the ground and pinned him there, shielding his fellow soldiers who were only a few feet away.”

Trump presented the Medal of Honor to members of Atkins’ family during the somber ceremony.

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It was Trump’s eighth Medal of Honor ceremony, the first honoring a veteran of the Iraq war.

The nation’s highest military commendation, the Medal of Honor is awarded to members of the armed forces who “distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their own lives above and beyond the call of duty,” the White House said.

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They had no known living family to attend their funerals. But when you fight for this country, Americans honor you even if they don’t know you.
Militarykind, USA TODAY

Born on Dec. 9, 1975, Atkins grew up in Bozeman, Montana, and first joined the Army in 2000, according to the Pentagon. He became an infantry team leader shortly after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in spring 2003.

While he left the service later in 2003, Atkins decided to re-enlist two years later, the Defense Department said. He was promoted to staff sergeant while serving in Iraq in 2007, the year of his death.

Gallatin County, Montana, has declared this to be Staff Sergeant Travis W. Atkins Week.

In a Twitter post, the government said: “The citizens of our county are eternally grateful for his service and sacrifice.”

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President Donald J. Trump stands with Valerie Nessel, widow of Sergeant John A. Chapman as he awards Chapman the posthumous Medal of Honor on Aug. 22, 2018 in the East Room at the White House for his actions on March 4, 2002, on Takur Ghar mountain in Afghanistan. Chapman’s aircraft was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, ejecting one teammate rom the aircraft, and crippling the helicopter after it crashed in the valley below. Chapman and the remaining joint special operations team members voluntarily returned to the snow-capped mountain, into known enemy stronghold, in an attempt to rescue their stranded teammate. Sergeant Chapman’s spouse, Valerie Nessel, and family joined the President at the White House to commemorate his example of selfless service and sacrifice. Camille Fine, USA TODAY

President Donald Trump, right, salutes retired Army Capt. Gary M. Rose, left, before bestowing him with the nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. Susan Walsh, AP