The Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center proudly presents its Keynote
Speaker for the 2026 Patriots Ball: Medal of Honor Recipient David Bellavia.
David Bellavia is the first and only living Iraq veteran to receive the Congressional
Medal of Honor, which is our country’s highest military honor. He was awarded the
Medal of Honor at the White House on June 25, 2019, surrounded by his family and
every living member of his Task Force.
Staff Sergeant Bellavia distinguished himself through extraordinary gallantry and
intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on November 10, 2004, while serving as a
squad leader in support of Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah, Iraq. During intense
house-to-house combat in the Second Battle of Fallujah, his decisive and heroic actions
directly saved the lives of members of his unit.
Bellavia enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1999 and chose to stay and fight following the
Sept. 11 terror attacks. That sense of duty was ingrained in Bellavia by his World War II
veteran grandfather, who served in the Army during the Normandy Campaign. Bellavia
returned home in 2005 and founded the advocacy organization Vets for Freedom and in
2019 founded the Deuce Relief Fund, which supports the soldiers of his former Task
Force 2-2 in Iraq.
Bellavia returned to Iraq as an embedded reporter covering heavy fighting in 2006 and
2008, and in 2007 wrote and published House to House, a book detailing his
experiences in Fallujah. His book is considered one of the best first-hand military
accounts ever written.
Bellavia’s many awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, the National Defense
Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, New York State
Conspicuous Service Cross, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the NATO
Medal. He was inducted into the New York State Veterans Hall of Fame in 2005.
Bellavia is a Western New York native. He is a 1994 graduate of Lyndonville High
School in Orleans County and studied biology and theater at the University of Buffalo.
Today, Bellavia is active traveling the country as a speaker sharing the important
message of service over self and as a sought-after source for national media.
