David Bellavia arrives in Washington for Medal of Honor ceremony

David Bellavia, a Batavia native who served as an Army staff sergeant, arrived in Washington, D.C., on Sunday and on Tuesday will become the first living Iraq War veteran to receive the Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest military award for valor — in a White House ceremony.

Bellavia is being honored for demonstrating conspicuous gallantry during the Second Battle of Fallujah, known as Operation Phantom Fury.

On Nov. 10, 2004, Bellavia's 29th birthday, his platoon was ordered to clear out a block of 12 buildings when the soldiers were pinned down during the fighting, which was taking place at night. Rather than put one of his own men at risk, Bellavia grabbed an M249 light machine gun and provided covering fire for his fellow soldiers to escape. A Bradley Fighting Vehicle then arrived to support the soldiers but was unable to rotate its turret to fire into a house full of Iraqi insurgents.

It seemed like they might not be able to proceed. Then, armed with an M16, Bellavia ran into the house to clear it and killed four insurgents inside. In one dramatic moment, he entered a room full of propane tanks and plastic explosives, where, for fear of setting off an explosion, he fought an insurgent in hand-to-hand combat before wrestling him to the ground and stabbing him in the collarbone. Bellavia killed one more insurgent on the roof, who then fell off the building. He continued to fight until joined by other members of his platoon. 

He chronicled his experiences in the 2007 book House to House: A Soldier's Memoir.  

Bellavia enlisted in the Army in 1999, and first served in Kosovo before deploying to Iraq in 2004. He was discharged from the Army a year later, in 2005; ran for Congress twice; and co-hosts a daily radio talk show on WBEN-AM in Buffalo, although he is on leave from that job, the The Buffalo News reports.

Bellavia also serves as the co-founder of Vets for Freedom, a conservative veterans advocacy group. He is married to Rochester radio personality Deanna King (of Radio 95.1’s The Brother Wease Show). On Sunday, she tweeted video of a police escort the Bellavia family received after arriving in the nation's capital. 

nwu@usatoday.com

MGREENWO@Gannett.com