A soldier, who fought alongside an East Tennessee native killed in Afghanistan, will be awarded the Medal of Honor during a ceremony at the White House today.

Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts, 28, will become the ninth living recipient to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Four years ago, just before dawn, at least 100 enemies opened fire on Pitts in Northeastern Afghanistan on the edge of Wanat Village. Pitts took grenade shrapnel in both legs and his left arm, but he refused to give up the high ground. For more than an hour, Pitts continued to fight, repeatedly tossing hand grenades and manning a machine gun under a hail of enemy fire.

Pitts said he’ll accept the honor on behalf of all the soldiers who fought and died in Wanat that day.

“I’m going to receive it, but it’s not going to be mine. We did it together. No one guy carried that day,” Pitts told The Army Times. “I don’t think I did anything more than anyone else, and I think this award represents everything we did as a collective effort that day. And for me, it’s also a memorial to the guys who didn’t come home. . . I guess I take comfort in thinking about the award as though I’m going to be it’s caretaker. It’s not mine, but I will hold onto it for the guys and look after it.”

The Battle of Wanat was one of the most controversial moments of the Afghanistan War. A military investigation concluded that the officers who oversaw Pitt’s company, battalion and brigade had overextended their force and didn’t provide enough support, which left soldiers vulnerable.

Pitts has retired from the Army and now lives in Nashua, N.H. where he works in business development for a computer software company.