Bill to confer Congressional Gold Medal on troops killed in Kabul airport attack goes to Biden for signature
CBSN
Washington — The Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation posthumously awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the 13 U.S. service members killed in the attack outside the main airport in Kabul this summer.
With the Senate's passage of the bill, the measure now heads to President Biden's desk for his signature. The House approved the bill last month.
The legislation praises the 13 service members for their "extreme bravery and valor against armed enemy combatants."
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.