Medal of Honor recipient Clint Romesha declines State of the Union invite from Michelle Obama

Just a day after receiving the Medal of Honor by the president of the United States, former Army staff sergeant Clinton Romesha has declined an invite by the first lady to be her guest at the State of the Union address Tuesday night.

He said that after some soul searching he decided he’d rather spend the evening with friends from his former unit, his wife Tammy — with whom he celebrates a wedding anniversary Tuesday — and their families, CNN reports.

SEE RELATED: Former Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha awarded Medal of Honor for bravery in Afghanistan

“As much as a great honor it would be to be a guest of the first lady, it’s also kind of hard to break away from the friends and the family and all the great guys here,” he told CNN.

“I really feel bad about not being able to go. But a lot of these guys I haven’t seen a really long time and I’d like to hang with them just a little bit more,” he added.

Mr. Romesha was awarded the prestigious medal Monday for “courageous leadership” during a 2009 firefight in Afghanistan, where eight Americans were killed.

© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.