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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Thursday is set to award the Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest military award for valor — to three U.S. soldiers for their service during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, including Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, the first Black service member to be honored for heroic actions during the war on terror launched after the 9/11 attacks.

Cashe suffered fatal injuries while serving in Iraq on Oct. 17, 2005, after rescuing fellow soldiers from a burning vehicle during Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Salah Ad Din Province, according to the White House. He will be honored posthumously.

Cashe died 16 years ago at the age of 35 and his widow, Tamara Cashe, is set to accept the award on his behalf during a ceremony at the White House.

Cashe’s sister Kasinal Cashe-White recalled her brother as “very rambunctious,” a “daredevil” and “a good kid all around.”

She told ABC News in an interview on Wednesday that receiving the Medal of Honor “means everything” to the family.

“We lost our brother. He can’t be replaced. But this award means that his name his legacy will go down in history,” she said.

Cashe grew up in Oviedo, Florida, and enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 1989 after graduating from Oviedo High School. He was deployed in the 1991 Gulf War and served in Korea and Germany before being deployed to Iraq in 2005 while serving as a a platoon sergeant in the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Asked how she feels about Cashe being the first Black soldier to receive the highest award for valor for service during the war on terror, Cashe-White said her brother “earned” the honor through his actions.

Biden will also posthumously honor Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Celiz, an Army Ranger who died at 32 years old during a 2018 firefight in Afghanistan, as well as Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee, a Special Forces soldier who fought off Taliban suicide bombers in Afghanistan in 2013 and is set to attend the ceremony, according to the White House.

Each of the service members demonstrated courage and gallantry by putting their own lives on the lines to aid their comrades and the actions that led them to receive the honor, a White House press release said.

When the vehicle that Cashe was commanding became engulfed in flames during an attack, his uniform caught fire and he sustained severe burns while extinguishing the flames and rescuing his fellow soldiers, according to the White House. Even after sufering injuries, he repeatedly approached the vehicle and helped four soldiers escape while being targeted by live fire.

“Despite the severe second and third degree burns covering the majority of his body, Sergeant First Class Cashe persevered through the pain to encourage his fellow Soldiers and ensure they received needed medical care,” the White House said. “When medical evacuation helicopters began to arrive, he selflessly refused evacuation until all of the other wounded Soldiers were first evacuated.”

Celiz, who died of wounds he received in combat on July 12, 2018, in Afghanistan’s Paktia Province, was attacked while leading an operation to disrupt attacks against the U.S. and allied forces and saved six live through his actions, the White House said.

His wife, Katie Celiz, told ABC News in an interview Wednesday that her husband was a “family man” who had an “amazing relationship” with their daughter.

“Chris believed in putting his men and his mission first,” she said. “Chris believed that we should always do good, whether it was the easy thing to do or not.”

During the operation he “voluntarily exposed himself to intense enemy machine gun and small arms fire” to help the U.S. and its allies reach safety and to administer aid to a wounded soldier, the White House said.

After he was hit himself, he signaled for the aircraft to depart without him.

“His selfless actions saved the life of the evacuated partnered force member and almost certainly prevented further casualties among other members of his team and the aircrew,” the White House said.

Plumlee, who spoke with ABC News on Wednesday, is also being honored for his heroic actions while serving in Afghanistan.

While responding to an explosion on the U.S. base, he fought off 10 Taliban suicide bombers dressed in Afghan National Army uniforms and came under fire several times, according to the White House. He placed himself in harms way by leaving cover to protect his base and helped render first aid to a wounded soldier, carrying him to safety.

“Without cover and with complete disregard for his own safety, he advanced on the superior enemy force engaging multiple insurgents with only his pistol,” the White House said.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez contributed to this report.

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(MAYFIELD, Ky.) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday surveyed damage in Kentucky he described as “beyond belief” and met with families in neighborhoods ravaged by deadly tornadoes last weekend.

After Biden surveyed the destruction in Mayfield by air and then on the ground, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear later choked up when thanking Biden publicly and introducing him in Dawson Springs, where Biden had stopped and talked to families whose homes were destroyed, including a 12-year-old girl carrying an American flag in a neighborhood where nearly every tree had been uprooted.

Biden opened his remarks by reminding people used to travel to Dawson Springs for the city’s healing waters, but, Biden said, “Now it’s our turn to help the entire town to heal.”

“I intend to do whatever it takes, as long as it takes to support your state and local leaders, and as you recover and rebuild because you will recover and you will rebuild,” Biden said, surrounded by storm damage. “The scope and scale of this destruction is almost beyond belief. When you look around here, it’s almost beyond belief. These tornadoes devoured everything in their path.”

He also offered condolences for those who lost someone and insisted “something good must happen” from the tragedy.

“I met one couple on the way up, said they’re still looking for four of their friends. They don’t know where they are. And those who have lost someone, there’s no words for the pain of losing someone. A lot of us know it.” Biden said.

“Keep the faith,” Biden added. “No one is walking away. We are in this for the long haul.”

Ahead of his remarks, Biden updated a presidential disaster declaration to boost federal disaster funds from 75% to 100% coverage for debris removal and emergency protective measures in Kentucky for a 30-day period.

Earlier, before receiving a briefing from state and local officials in Kentucky “on the impacts of the tornadoes and extreme weather,” according to the White House, Biden vowed all the federal support he can provide to the area, both now and in the months to come.

“Immediately after a disaster is a time when people are really, really moving, and trying to help each other and trying to get things done. But after a month, after six weeks, after two months, people can get themselves to a point where they get fairly depressed about what’s going on, particularly young kids, particularly people who’ve lost somebody. And so I just want you to know, the help that we’re able to offer at the federal level, is not just now,” Biden said.

“I’ve instructed my team to make you all aware of everything that is available from a federal level,” Biden added later on. “And some of it has to do outside of FEMA, outside of Homeland Security, there’s other programs, including education, there’s a whole range of things, but I’m here to listen.”

The president seemed struck by the scale of the damage he saw on his aerial tour.

“As you fly over here, as I’ve done in the past, I’ve not seen this tornado, this much damage from a tornado. You know, you think, but for the grace of God, why was I not 100 yards outside that line? Which makes it so different,” he noted.

Biden was joined for the visit by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who were on the ground there on Sunday.

At least 88 people have been confirmed dead across five states, 74 in western Kentucky alone, and the death toll could rise “significantly,” Beshear said on Tuesday.

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(WASHINGTON) — Major U.S. airline CEOs were in the hot seat on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon, questioned by lawmakers on whether they appropriately spent billions in taxpayer dollars.

The airline industry received a bailout of $54 billion at the height of the pandemic when air travel came to a screeching halt. The goal was to preserve airline jobs, and in return airlines agreed to place limits on executive compensation, eliminate stock buybacks and dividends and not involuntary furlough employees.

Even with the aid, however, airlines said they had no choice but to shrink. They incentivized thousands of employees to accept early retirement offers, buyouts and take unpaid leave.

The moves left them with few resources when air travel came roaring back. During the summer and fall, taxpayers bore the brunt of the cuts — facing daylong cancellations, delays, lines and hold times.

“The return of demand for air travel has been intense,” American CEO Doug Parker wrote in his opening statement. “Like other airlines, we have experienced some operational challenges in recent months, which we have worked to manage as deftly as possible.”

Lawmakers questioned the CEOs on whether airlines have held up their end of the bargain since the goal of the aid was to preserve staff for the eventual travel rebound.

“We end[ed] up with airplanes in the wrong place, people in the wrong place,” Parker said regarding the airline’s mass flight cancellations in October. “So that was the driver of the vast majority of cancellations, but … it gets unfortunately mischaracterized as we don’t have enough people.”

Parker explained they actually have more pilots and flight attendants for shifts than they’ve had in the past, but that employees pre-pandemic were more willing to pick up extra trips, which fueled some of their operational challenges.

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly admitted to some scheduling mistakes over the past year.

“We just need to make sure that we don’t overschedule the airline relative to the people resources that we have,” he said, “and we’ve made a number of adjustments in that regard.”

And United revealed they are struggling with a regional pilot shortage.

“All of us, particularly our regional partners, simply don’t have enough airplanes to fly,” United CEO Scott Kirby told lawmakers. “We have almost 100 airplanes effectively grounded right now, regional aircraft, because there’s not enough pilots flying, which means we just can’t at the moment fly to all the small communities that we would like to.”

But the executives were in agreement that the road to recovery would have been worse if it weren’t for the payroll support program. PSP saved nearly 400,000 direct passenger airline jobs, according to data from the airlines.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say the program saved the airline industry,” Parker added.

Executives addressed worker shortage concerns by detailing their aggressive hiring initiatives. In all, the major U.S. airlines plan to hire around 30,000 new workers in 2022.

U.S. airlines handled the recent Thanksgiving travel rush without a major hiccup, but they fear the emerging variant could pose another potential setback.

“The omicron variant has created further uncertainty,” Delta COO John Laughter told lawmakers, “and there is no clear consensus on when business and international travel will return.”

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