A Western New Yorker has received the nation's highest military honor.

President Trump awarded Staff Sgt. David Bellavia the Medal of Honor on Tuesday for his heroic acts during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2004, Bellavia's army platoon was pinned down in Fallujah, and most of his squad was trapped in a house. He fought off several enemy soldiers so his squad could escape.

Twelve squad members who were with him that night were there to see him Tuesday at the White House.

David's wife Deanna, their three children and his mother were also in attendance. David's father William died in 2017 — President Trump said he was watching from Heaven, very proud of his son.

In 2007, Bellavia published a memoir about his experiences in Iraq. In 2012, he signed an agreement with an Oscar-winning producer to make his memoir into a major motion picture.

Since leaving the U.S. Army, Bellavia has run for congress in what's now New York's 27th congressional district three times — he lost each time in a republican primary.

Bellavia joined radio station WBEN in late 2012 as a fill-in host. In October 2016, he joined WBEN's Tom Bauerle as co-host of “Bauerle and Bellavia,” a drive time talk show in Buffalo.

Bellavia has also received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, three Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals and the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross.

Bellavia is the first living Iraq War veteran to receive the Medal of Honor.