Staff Sgt. Clinton “Clint” Romesha woke up early on the morning of Oct. 3, 2009. Combat Outpost Keating, an International Security Assistance Force base in Kamdesh near the Pakistani border of Afghanistan, was under attack. Romesha was serving as a section leader with Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at the time, and the soldiers at the outpost knew this was a full, large-scale attack, not Taliban fighters taking potshots. Sure enough, the base was being attacked from all sides, with 300 Taliban militants pummeling the outpost with mortars and small-arms fire.
Romesha, a tank crewman turned cavalry scout, rushed into action. He moved through the outpost, dodging enemy fire, to scout the area and organize a defense even as Taliban fighters surged into the area and seized an ammunition depot. Romesha continued to put himself at risk as he moved across the base. At one point a rocket propelled grenade hit a generator he was taking cover behind, leaving him wounded. Despite that, he kept fighting, killing several Taliban fighters. While this was going on he was on the radio, directing air support that delivered heavy fire to the enemy. After several hours, ISAF forces managed to push the Taliban back.
The Battle of Kamdesh, as it would be known, saw eight Americans killed and 27 wounded. More than 100 Taliban fighters were believed to be killed or wounded in the fighting. For his part, Romesha would be awarded the Medal of Honor in 2013.
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Now his actions are immortalized in a comic book. This month the Association of the United STates Army released a new comic detailing the attack on the outpost and Romesha’s actions in fighting back against the Taliban. Written by Chuck Dixon (a long-time Batman writer) and with interior and cover art by Geof Isherwood, the comic is free to read. After a quick background look at his life, the story moves to Combat Outpost Keating and the attack, with each page showcasing the heavy fire the soldiers were dealing with and Romesha’s actions in organizing a counterattack and pushing back against the Taliban. The art is dynamic and detailed, both in capturing military equipment and the large mustache Romesha sported at the time of the battle.
Dixon has written previous editions of the AUSA Medal of Honor comics series and both creators previously worked on the war comic ‘The ‘Nam.’
The comic is the latest in the AUSA’s series of graphic novels about service members who earned the highest military honor. The comic series started in 2018. Four are being produced this year, with the one on Romesha being the second. Earlier this year AUSA released one on William Carney, the Black Civil War soldier who rescued his regiment’s flag during the Battle of Fort Wagner and whose actions inspired similar scenes in the movie ‘Glory.’
Two more Medal of Honor-focused comics are set for release later this year. They will focus, respectively, on World War II soldier Van Barfoot, who singlehandedly captured three machine gun nests in a day and then disabled an enemy tank, and Korean War chaplain Emil Kakaun, who risked his own safety to care for wounded soldiers.
