( CNN ) -- When Spc.Ty Carter first arrived in Afghanistan , he took one look at his surroundings and thought , `` This is a death trap . '' He would soon learn just how right he was . Combat Outpost Keating was a sitting target for nearby Taliban insurgents : It sat deep within a valley , surrounded by mountains . The American soldiers stationed there knew it was only a matter of time before something bad happened . `` We just did n't know when , '' Carter said . When it did , the assault would set in motion a chaotic chain of events that had every soldier certain he would not make it out alive . Eight American soldiers died on October 3 , 2009 . Many of the 45 others who survived , including Carter , struggle with the guilt that they could n't save more lives . Yet Carter 's daring efforts to rescue his fellow soldiers in the face of imminent death earned him the nation 's highest military decoration , the Medal of Honor , which he will receive on Monday at a White House ceremony . Now Staff Sgt . Ty Carter , 33 , will join another survivor of that battle , former Army Staff Sgt . Clint Romesha , who received the award earlier this year . It marks the first time in nearly half a century that two living soldiers from the same battle received the Medal of Honor . To Carter , it 's a bittersweet award . `` It just brings back all those memories of what he had to go through , '' explained his wife , Shannon Derby . Discharged from the Marines . Carter was a loner as a teenager . He did n't have a lot of friends . His older brother Seth had a knack for getting into trouble , and Ty followed in his footsteps for awhile before his mother kicked Seth out of the house . Not exactly hero material , he says . Carter joined the Marines in 1998 , spending five years in the service until a fight with a roommate led to his demotion . Two months later , he was honorably discharged . So , it was back to civilian life , something that left Carter restless and bored . He bounced across the country from job to job : more than a dozen stints in five years , everything from a yacht repairman to a tow-truck operator . He was supporting his daughter after his first marriage ended . But in every job , something was always missing . `` There was no motivation , there was no purpose , '' Carter said . `` It felt like I was a drone . '' He hated the punch-in-punch-out lifestyle of making ends meet , and fondly recalled military life . `` I was thinking 'Well man , back in the service ... I was doing what I enjoyed and I was actually happy to wake up in the morning , happy to go to work , ' '' he said . So he enlisted in the Army in 2008 . But military life was n't the idyllic place he remembered . `` We had a platoon full of guys that were on a lighter side of life ( who ) liked to joke around , '' retired Sgt . 1st Class Jonathan Hill recalled . `` And Carter never really got involved ... he thought it was immature . `` Carter really did n't make friends with a lot of guys , and he struggled with it . '' A little over a year after he enlisted , Carter and his platoon were deployed to eastern Afghanistan in May 2009 . Despite his aloofness toward his fellow soldiers , Carter would find himself in a situation where he did n't think twice to risk his life for those men whose jokes he once found childish . Defining moment . Combat Outpost Keating had been built in Nuristan province in 2006 as part of the effort by NATO-led forces to build partnerships with local Afghans , and try to stop insurgents from trickling over in nearby Pakistan . The camp had experienced ups and downs since that time and by 2008 , the cavalry commanders in charge of the outpost thought it made sense to shut it down . Yet there were other factors at play . Afghanistan 's President Hamid Karzai was in the middle of his re-election campaign in fall 2009 , and abandoning Combat Outpost Keating might have been seen as a lack of American support . So , despite numerous warnings , Gen. Stanley McChrystal -- then commander of all U.S. troops in Afghanistan -- kept the outpost open . After Karzai 's victory and the end of a military operation that freed some key assets , the military leadership approved a plan to abandon the outpost and the troops stationed there were to start packing up on October 4 , 2009 . That never happened . Instead , a day before their planned departure , an assault was unleashed on the outpost that culminated in what has now been described as one of the most intense battles of the entire war in Afghanistan . The first shots rang out just a few minutes before 6 a.m . The rumors that the soldiers had heard for months were coming true . Carter said he had often imagined that day . `` I was like , 'Well , if it 's my time to go , how am I going out ? ' `` he said . The Taliban had studied how the Americans responded to previous attacks , and they knew the outpost relied heavily on its mortars . So they made the big guns their first target . `` When the enemy were n't shooting at us , they were shooting at the weapons , '' Carter said . `` So they were disabling the weapons . '' The insurgent fire killed Pfc . Kevin Thomson as he raced to his post . Sgt . Josh Kirk was killed while returning fire . `` You could hear the rounds coming in from every direction , '' said platoon Sgt . Jon Hill . Troops begin running much-needed ammunition to the men on guard duty . Sgt . Michael Scusa was gunned down 10 feet outside one of the outpost 's doors . In the midst of the gunfire , Sgt . Christopher Griffin `` immediately ran out the door without hesitation , '' Hill said . `` He did n't make it back '' Ammunition was starting to run out , so Ty Carter and other members of his Black Knight troop volunteered to deliver more -- a hundred yards away across the heaviest of gunfire . Carter did n't think twice about the danger . All he knew was there were three fellow soldiers -- Sgt . Bradley Larson , Spc . Stephan Mace and Sgt . Justin Gallegos -- trapped in a Humvee and they needed more supplies to return fire . `` Carter 's kinda like .. for lack of a better word , a robot , '' Hill said . `` You tell him to do something , he 's gon na do it and he 's gon na do it to the best of his ability . '' He would return through that deadly gauntlet three times to get supplies to the men . When the firefight was over , the death toll would include Mace , Gallegos , Sgt . Josh Hardt , and Staff Sgt . Vernon Martin . The names of all eight men who died on that day are engraved on a steel band that Carter wears on his wrist , not that he needs the reminder . Read more about the battle from Jake Tapper 's `` The Outpost '' Farm life . Today , Carter still struggles with the memories of the battle , seeking solace with his wife and three children on their farm in Washington state near Joint Base Lewis-McChord , where he is now stationed . In the dark , quiet moments , the constant ringing in his head brings back difficult thoughts . `` That 's when the memories start kicking in and you ca n't sleep because , you know , the whole , ' I shoulda done this , I coulda done that , ' `` he said . `` And then you see the faces of the soldiers that died . '' Carter said he believes that one more name should be added to the death toll of the battle of Kamesh : Ed Faulkner Jr. , who struggled with drug abuse and mental problems after surviving the battle . He left the army with severe PTSD and died in September 2010 after a fatal overdose of methadone and Xanax . While there was no evidence of a suicide , Faulkner 's friends -- including Carter -- believe his death was linked to the battle . `` I honestly believe that , yes , he was the ninth victim of Combat Outpost Keating , '' Carter said . `` And I also believe that he wo n't be the last . '' Carter also struggles with PTSD , and now has regular therapy . `` I did n't believe it was real until I experienced it , '' he said of PTSD . `` I thought it was just an excuse to get out of duty ... but once it hit me , and I realized it , I was blown away . How could I be so ignorant ? '' Carter wants to be a voice to destigmatize these invisible wounds of war , and he hopes that the attention he receives with the Medal of Honor will show that there is nothing weak in seeking help . `` What we need to do is take the first few steps , '' Carter said . `` We need to realize that yes , this is affecting me , and I need to fix this . '' CNN 's Eric Marrapodi , Jennifer Rizzo and Andy Segal contributed to this report .
Staff Sgt . Ty Carter survived the Monday battle at CNN . His heroic efforts to save his fellow soldiers earned him the Medal of Honor . He will receive the award Wednesday at the White House . For more on Ty Carter , watch `` An Unlikely Hero '' on Combat Outpost Keating Wednesday at just a few minutes before 6 .