Washington (CNN) -- President Obama will award the Medal of Honor to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert J. Miller for "conspicuous gallantry" and "heroic actions" in Afghanistan in January 2008, the White House announced Thursday.

Miller will receive the rare honor posthumously for displaying "immeasurable courage and uncommon valor -- eventually sacrificing his own life to save the lives of his teammates and 15 Afghanistan National Army soldiers," according to a White House statement.

Miller's mother and father will join the Obama at the White House on October 6 "to commemorate their son's selfless service and sacrifice," the White House said.

Miller -- born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1983 -- enlisted in the Army in August 2003 as a Special Forces candidate. He became a Green Beret in 2005 and was based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

The White House announced last week that Obama also intends to award the Medal of Honor to Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger for his valor in saving the lives of three wounded comrades at a then-secret base in Laos in 1968.

After Etchberger saved his fellow airmen, he was shot and killed by enemy fighters.

The ceremony for Etchberger is scheduled for September 21 at the White House.

Fewer than 3,500 Medals of Honor have been awarded since the medal was established during the Civil War.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/09/med...ex.html?hpt=C2