WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will award Sgt. Ryan J. Pitts, 28, the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony on July 21, the White House announced Monday, for his actions during a deadly battle in Afghanistan six years ago.

Just before dawn on July 13, 2008, nine U.S. soldiers were killed and 27 were wounded in an attack on the edge of Wanat village, in the country’s Nuristan province, which spurred a series of investigations.

At least 100 insurgents opened fire on a new U.S. patrol base and a nearby observation post. The attack was powerful and surprising — soldiers had spotted insurgents west of the village but were unable put together a call for indirect fire before all hell broke loose.

In the middle of it all was Pitts. Wounded by grenade shrapnel, he crawled from position to position in the observation post, refusing to give up the high ground there even after fellow soldiers were killed. He stayed in the fight, tossing hand grenades at insurgents and manning an M240B machine gun under a hail of enemy fire until others could respond.

Pitts, 28, now lives in Nashua, N.H., where he works for a computer software company.

“For me, this was a team effort,” Pitts said. “I’m going to receive it, but it’s not going to be mine. We did it together.”