Special Report

Rep. Duncan Hunter may seek probe into delay on Medal of Honor for William Swenson

A California congressman said Tuesday that he was considering asking the Pentagon inspector general to investigate why President Barack Obama hasn’t approved the nation’s highest military award for gallantry for a former Army captain whose nomination has been stalled at the White House since last summer. » read more

Afghan soldiers recount 4 U.S. troops’ heroic deaths at Ganjgal

The men received Bronze Stars posthumously for their actions, but the details of what took place before they died on Sept. 8, 2009, when the Taliban ambushed a joint American-Afghan patrol in Afghanistan’s Ganjgal Valley, hadn’t been disclosed. » read more

Afghan survivors of Ganjgal battle dispute official account of Medal of Honor feats

Nine Afghan soldiers who survived a 2009 battle that brought the first Medal of Honor to a living Marine since the Vietnam War have disputed the official accounts of how Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer won the country’s highest military decoration. » read more

Questions surround Army captain’s ‘lost’ nomination for Medal of Honor

The 2009 battle of Ganjgal is perhaps the most remarkable of the Afghan war for its extraordinary heroism and deadly incompetence. It produced dozens of casualties, career-killing reprimands and a slew of commendations for valor. They included two Medal of Honor nominations, one for former Army Capt. William Swenson. Yet months after the first living Army officer in some 40 years was put in for the nation’s highest military award for gallantry, his nomination vanished into a bureaucratic black hole. » read more

Archive: Ambush at Ganjgal

9/8/09: 'We're pinned down:' Afghans set trap for U.S. column

9/10/09: U.S. names dead from Afghan ambush

9/12/09: Marine to reporter: 'This is your rifle now'

9/12/09: Deadly Afghan ambush shows perils of ill-supplied deployment

9/16/09: Body of Navy corpsman returned to California

2/17/10: Officers blamed in Afghan ambush that killed 5 U.S. troops

2/20/10: Probes overlook McChrystal's role in costly Afghan battles

2/20/10: Slain medic's parents blast Army missteps

9/15/11: Marine receives Medal of Honor