Washington, DC
Highest honour for Catholic soldier killed in Iraq

A Catholic soldier will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States’ highest military decoration, the White House has announced. Staff Sergeant Travis Atkins was killed on June 1 2007, after tackling a suicide bomber to protect his fellow soldiers. He was 31. At his funeral, the priest said that Atkins had lived out his calling.

Atkins is the fifth soldier to receive the Medal for actions taken during the Iraq war. It is awarded for “Conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty”. The ceremony will take place on Wednesday March 27: Atkins’s son Trevor and other family members will be present.