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Aijo said that while Atkins was wrestling with the bomber, he saw Atkins position himself between his vehicle and the bomber, \"and that's when the detonation happened.\"

In wrestling him to the ground, Atkins absorbed the force of the blast and saved the lives of his fellow soldiers.

\"There is no doubt in my mind that when he dismounted that vehicle and encountered the two individuals, he knew instantaneously that he was dealing with a mortal threat,\" said retired Col. John Valledor, Atkins's battalion commander at the time.

And that given his experience \"he did everything humanly possible physically to ensure that mortal threat did not affect his fellow soldiers.\"

Aijo agrees noting that the grenades in the suicide vest would have exploded seconds after a pin was pulled.

\"He would have seen that it would have been clearly obvious,\" said Aijo. \"He had that split second to make that decision and that was the decision he made, to sacrifice himself so that we could all live.\"

\"PHOTO:
Courtesy of the Atkins family
PHOTO: Then-Sgt. Travis Atkins’ parents, Jack and Elaine, visit their son at Fort Drum, N.Y., in 2006
>

Valledor recommended Atkins for the Medal of Honor, but instead, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest award for valor.

\"At the end of the day, what Travis did was above and beyond the call of duty,\" said Valledor. \"It was recognized as such by others outside of the chain of command. And I thought that I would never hear about that again.\"

But in 2016 the military began a review of previous awards for valor and it was decided that Atkins' heroism merited the Medal of Honor.

\"I am not surprised to hear what Travis did,\" said Jack Atkins, Atkins' father. \"This award is one thing, the real award for us is that these guys showed up. And what they thought of him.\"

\"There's nothing that we can say or do that will make up for what he did for us and that's the biggest honor and that's how he lived his life with me, as well,\" said Oliver.

\"He was the greatest father as well as a soldier,\" said Oliver.

At the time of his death, the Bozeman, Montana, native was on his second deployment to Iraq, having served there in 2003 after the initial invasion.

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