Departing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta extended Monday a list of benefits — all previously denied by the Pentagon — to the same-sex spouses of service members as well as to the unmarried partners of gay troops.

The perks, automatically available to heterosexual military spouses, will include child care services, member-designated hospital visits, and the issuing of military ID cards, which will give same-sex spouses and partners access to on-base commissaries, movie theaters and gyms. The policy changes will go into effect once training on the new rules is completed, Panetta said.

While advocates for gay and lesbian service members and their families hailed Panetta’s policy switch as “substantive” and “encouraging,” the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) still blocks the DOD from enacting more than 85 other benefits now provided to heterosexual military spouses and their children — most notably medical and dental care, housing allowances, and death benefits.

Also, as NBC News reported Feb. 4, that same federal law mandates that when a gay service member is killed in combat, military officials must first notify that troop’s blood family, not their spouse, as is normally the course of action. 

Panetta said DOMA is “now being reviewed by the United States Supreme Court" — and he offered his first clear signal that the Pentagon wants that law overturned.

“There are certain benefits that can only be provided to spouses as defined by that law,” Panetta said. “While it will not change during my tenure as secretary of defense, I foresee a time when the law will allow the department to grant full benefits to service members and their dependents, irrespective of sexual orientation. Until then, the department will continue to comply with current law while doing all we can to take care of all soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and their families."

Same-sex advocates have been pushing the DOD to extend full benefits to the spouses and partners of all U.S. service members since the repeal 17 months of ago of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy which prohibited gay troops from revealing their sexual orientation.

“At the time of repeal, I committed to reviewing benefits that had not previously been available to same-sex partners based on existing law and policy,” Panetta said. “It is a matter of fundamental equity that we provide similar benefits to all of those men and women in uniform who serve their country ...

“Taking care of our service members and honoring the sacrifices of all military families are two core values of this nation. Extending these benefits is an appropriate next step under current law to ensure that all service members receive equal support for what they do to protect this nation."

Advocates for gay and lesbian service members and their families praised Panetta’s policy shift although they said that the move is not groundbreaking due to the DOMA legal blockade.

“Secretary Panetta’s decision today answers the call President (Barack) Obama issued in his inaugural address to complete our nation's journey toward equality, acknowledging the equal service and equal sacrifice of our gay and lesbian service members and their families,” said Allyson Robinson, an Army veteran and executive director of OutServe-SLDN, an association of actively serving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender U.S. military personnel with more than 50 chapters and 6,000 members.

“We thank him for getting us a few steps closer to full equality — steps that will substantively improve the quality of life of gay and lesbian military families,” Robinson said.

The American Military Partner Association (AMPA), a support network for LGBT military families, released the following statement today in response to Panetta's announcement: 

“We’ve waited far too long for this, and it’s fantastic news that our dedicated military families will now have access to some of the benefits and support services they need and deserve,” said Stephen Peters, the group's president. “However, (DOMA)  continues to undermine our military families who sacrifice so much for our nation. This summer, we hope that the Supreme Court will make it clear that our families are just as important and deserve the same protections, benefits, and support that federal recognition brings.”

To offer the new benefits to partners, DOD will ask gay and lesbian service members to sign a “Declaration of Domestic Partnership” in which they will attest that they are in a committed relationship, and intend to remain so indefinitely, and that neither is legally married, according to OutServe-SLDN.

The changes will take “several months to complete, Pentagon officials said. The extra time is needed so that military leaders can offer a chance for the public to comment on the new rules and also to allow an opportunity for each of the branches to update its IT system, develop new processes for issuing ID cards, and train their personnel on the refreshed benefits package.

Panetta did stop short on offering a full slate of benefits that gay advocates have been requesting for two years: on-base housing and burial at Arlington National Cemetery and other items that don’t fall under DOMA, according to OutServe-SLDN. (The organization’s lawyers drafted an explanation outlining the policy shift for gay service members and their families.)

DOD officials have explained to OutServe-SLDN that “policy for burial at Arlington National Cemetery is under review. At issue is how to verify eligible same-sex relationships for the surviving spouse in order to ensure equitable policy implementation."

NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski contributed to this report.

Related:

• 'What's right is right': Widowed lesbian pushes for equal military benefits
• Spouses club relents, says lesbian Army wife can be 'full member'

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has decided to clear the way for women to serve in many combat positions in the U.S. armed forces, a senior defense official told NBC News on Wednesday afternoon.

The Pentagon chief will announce on Thursday that he is eliminating the direct ground combat exclusion — the Department of Defense policy that excluded women from assignment to units below the brigade level if the unit would be engaged in direct combat.

This will allow women to be assigned to select positions in ground combat units at the battalion level, opening approximately 237,000 individual jobs to women across service branches, including 5,000 positions for female Marines in ground combat elements.

"I support it. It reflects the reality of 21st century military operations," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in anticipation of the announcement. 

"We are moving in the direction of women as infantry soldiers," one senior defense official said. 

Longstanding opponents of lifting the ban on women in combat lambasted the move as a show of "political correctness."

"The point of the military is to protect our country," said Penny Nance, President and CEO of Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, a conservative lobbying group. "Anything that distracts from that is detrimental. Our military cannot continue to choose social experimentation and political correctness over combat readiness. While this decision is not unexpected from this administration, it is still disappointing."

Panetta, who is expected to leave his position as Defense Secretary in February, will call on the military services to study whether it is possible to open all jobs to women, and the services must come back with their individual plans and recommendations by May 15, a senior defense official said.  He will call for all changes to be in place, and women serving in the new roles by Jan. 1, 2016. 

But a senior defense official who spoke to NBC News said they expect exceptions to remain. Elite Special Operations positions in Navy SEALS, Army Rangers, and Delta Force were likely to remain closed to women, the official said, while the Army is likely to open up jobs for female pilots in the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. 

Karim Sahib / AFP - Getty Images file

Female soldiers from the US 1st Cavalry on patrol in Baghdad's al-Jihad quarter in this Mar. 21, 2004, file photograph.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called the decision "historic."

"In fact, it's important to remember that in recent wars that lacked any true front lines, thousands of women already spent their days in combat situations serving side-by-side with their fellow male servicemembers," said Murray, who heads the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. 

In November, a group of women in the military and the non-profit American Civil Liberties Union sued the Pentagon over the policy of excluding women from combat roles. Their complaint argued that they were already serving in combat roles, but not getting recognized for it.

So far, 152 women have died while deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and at least 958 have been wounded in action. 

"This is really the implementation of a policy that has been a reality for women for years," one senior defense official said.

According to the most recent Defense numbers, there are 1.4 million active duty members of the military, and nearly 15 percent of them are women. 

This new military-wide rule — distinct from a law — will replace the 1994 policy memo barring women in combat roles, which was signed by then-Secretary Les Aspin.

NBC News correspondent Kelly O'Donnell and NBC staff writer Kari Huus and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

Female veterans cheer new era: ‘It’s about time!’
Women in the infantry? Forget about it, says female Marine officer

An Army sergeant who ignored his battle wounds to take out the enemy, rescue the injured and retrieve the dead during an ambush by 300 fighters in Afghanistan will receive the Medal of Honor, the White House announced Friday.

Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha, 31, who has since left the military, will be only the fourth living service member awarded the nation's top honor for courage in Iraq or Afghanistan.

His citation says he is being recognized for "acts of gallantry and intrepity" when fighters attacked Combat Outpost Keating from all sides with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, mortars and rifles on Oct. 3, 2009, igniting a daylong battle.

Romesha, a father of three, rousted reinforcements and then engaged in battle with the help of an assistant gunner. After taking out one machine-gun team, he set his sights on a second and suffered shrapnel wounds when a grenade hit a generator he was using for cover.

"Undeterred by his injuries, Staff Sergeant Romesha continued to fight and upon the arrival of another soldier to aid him and the assistant gunner, he again rushed through the exposed avenue to assemble additional soldiers," the citation says.

"With complete disregard for his own safety, (he) continually exposed himself to heavy enemy fire as he moved confidently about the battlefield engaging and destroying multiple enemy targets."

At the same time, Romesha was orchestrating a plan to secure key points of the battlefield — and directing air support to knock out a band of 30 heavily armed fighters who were attacking "with even greater ferocity."

He and his team also provided cover so that three wounded soldiers could get to an aid station, then "pushed forward 100 meters under withering fire, to recover the bodies of their fallen comrades."

Eight soldiers were killed in the battle, chronicled in the book "The Outpost," by journalist Jake Tapper, who described Romesha as "an intense guy, short and wiry," the son of a Mormon church leader who had attended seminary before joining the military.

Romesha, according to the book, never lost his cool — playing "peekaboo" with a sniper so he could get a bead on him, smiling as bullets ricocheted around him.

'He's always been a good kid'
Romesha’s father, Gary, said his son called him with news of the medal on Friday.

“I thought it was great. But I’m more thankful he is able to receive it on his own and it’s not given to us after he is dead,” he said.

The father of five, a Vietnam veteran, said all three of his sons went into the military.

“I tried to talk to my children. I told them, just don’t go into the infantry, do something where you get skilled. But they didn’t listen to me. They all went into the infantry,” he said in a phone interview from his home in small-town northern California.

He said he wasn’t surprised to hear about his son’s battlefield heroics.

“He’s always been a good kid,” he said. “But I think any of my children would have done the same thing.”

Romesha enlisted in the Army in 1999 and completed two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He was a section leader with B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division when the outpost came under fire.

Though the U.S. soldiers were greatly outnumbered, they stopped the Taliban from overrunning the outpost after Afghan troops and guards reportedly fled.

President Obama, who announced the award during a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, will present Romesha with the Medal of Honor at the White House on Feb. 11.

NBC News' Courtney Kube contributed to this report.

Related: Some wounded vets shine on 'Alive Day,' others wear black
Related: One inch: Death in combat hinges on the tiniest margins

More soldiers took their own lives than died in combat during 2012, new Department of Defense figures show. The Army's suicide rate has climbed by 9 percent since the military branch launched its suicide-prevention campaign in 2009.

Through November, 177 active-duty soldiers had committed suicide compared to 165 during all of 2011 and 156 in 2010. In all of 2012, 176 soldiers were killed in action -- all while serving in Operation Enduring Freedom, according to DOD.

Army suicides have increased by at least 54 percent since 2007 when there were 115 — a number the Washington Post then called "an all-time record." An Army spokesman said Wednesday it is uncertain if 177 marks a new annual high (with December numbers still to come), or if suicides have ever outpaced combat deaths in a single year, because the Army has not always tracked suicides.

Some Army families who recently lost members to suicide criticize the branch for failing to aggressively shake a culture in which soldiers believe they'll be deemed weak and denied promotion if they seek mental health aid. They also blame Army leaders for focusing more heavily on weeding out  emotionally troubled soldiers to artificially suppress the branch's suicide stats versus embracing and helping members who are exhibiting clear signs of trouble.

Furthermore, in September, two U.S. lawmakers pressured the Pentagon to immediately use unspent money specifically appropriated to the agency to help slow the suicides within the military. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, also pushed for increased anti-suicide funding for the Department of Defense in 2013.

“The Pentagon hasn’t spent the money that it has for suicide prevention for this year — and that money wasn’t nearly enough money to reach all the soldiers who need help. Now we are hearing about bureaucratic technicalities at the Pentagon that are preventing them from acting. This is unconscionable,” Rep. McDermott said. “The Pentagon is funded to help soldiers and needs to do much more on the epidemic of suicides."  

But the Department of Defense contends that anti-suicide programs installed throughout the armed services soon will curb military suicides — and that such initiatives already have helped douse mental-health stigmas.

"We have seen several programs that we are optimistic are going to start making a dent in this issue," said Jackie Garrick, acting director of the DOD suicide prevention office. "We’ve asked all of the services to use the same messaging, the same talking points. So the Army, included in that, is trying to adapt and promote those same messages because we realize that this is an across-the-board problem."

The Army could not provide a suicide-prevention officer to comment, but an Army spokeswoman did forward NBC News a link to the “Army Suicide Prevention Program.”

Within that initiative, soldiers are taught to “Ask, Care, and Escort” any Army buddy who mentions considering suicide, to usher them to behavioral-health provider, chaplain, or a primary-care provider, and to “never leave your friend alone." The U.S. military also installed a prevention “lifeline:” 1-800-273-TALK.

What's more, soldiers are assured that seeking mental-health counseling will not harm their chances at gaining a security clearance. And on that website, a video shows Sgt. Maj. Raymond F. Chandler III, the Army's top non-commissioned officer, speaking to other NCOs: “Know your soldiers. Know the resources available to them when they are in crisis ... Encourage your soldiers to seek help ... Seeking help is a sign of courage.”

The anti-suicide strategy was rolled out in April 2009 by Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli.

In July 2010, the Army released a report that sought to explain its suicide epidemic. Some Army families were irked by one of the key findings: Loosened recruitment and retention standards — due to the furious pace of repeated deployments — had allowed more than 47,000 people to remain in the Army despite histories of substance abuse, misdemeanor crime or “serious misconduct.”

Chiarelli further frustrated many Army families who had lost members to suicide when, amid the release of that same report, he added: “I think it’s fair to say in some instances it would be a soldier that’s possibly married, couple of kids, lost his job, no health care insurance, possibly a single parent.” Those types of soldiers, he added, are “coming in the Army to start all over again, and we see this high rate of suicide.”

Two days before Charielli’s comments, 28-year-old Army soldier Brandon Barrett showed up at his parents' home in Tucson, Ariz. The family believed he was on leave following a brutal, year-long deployment in Afghanistan with the 5th Stryker Brigade during which he saw several buddies killed or wounded by bombs and did some killing himself.

During that visit, Barrett’s family thought his Army experience seemed to be helping him to mature, recalls his brother, Shane Barrett, a detective with the Tucson Police Department.

In August, Brandon Barrett left his parents’ home and drove — for unknown reasons — to Salt Lake City where he donned his combat fatigues, boots and helmet, grabbed his AR-15 rifle, went to a hotel and told an employee to call the police. As he waited for the officers, Barrett paced the hotel parking lot as if he was on patrol, a hotel video showed. A police officer arrived. Barrett shot him in the leg. The officer returned fire and killed Barrett with a bullet to the head. His family believes Barrett intended to commit “suicide by cop,” his brother acknowledged. 

Courtesy Barrett family

Brandon Barrett confided to a chaplain within his unit, the Barrett family learned since his death, revealing that his year of combat in Afghanistan had left him depressed and anxious.

“He’d been home for nearly a month,” Shane Barrett told NBC News. “We had no contact from anybody in the Army until my brother’s incident. And then, after the fact, it was: ‘Your brother was AWOL (absent without leave).’ Really? We didn’t know that.

“If a guy goes AWOL, the Army is supposed to notify the family immediately. We never received phone calls, letters. We were blindsided. At the police department where I work, they ran all kinds of record checks on him. But they found absolutely nothing (about an AWOL report).

“My mother has always believed he was declared AWOL after the fact just so the Army could get him off the rolls and not have his suicide count against the Army,” Shane Barrett said. “To just discard him, like he never existed, is just wrong. And there’s no paper trail, no nothing to back up the AWOL claim.”

The Barrett family later learned that Brandon had confided to a chaplain within his unit, revealing that his year of combat in Afghanistan had left him depressed and anxious. And possibly mulling suicide.

“From talking to a couple of other guys in his unit, he didn’t want to come forward (to seek mental-health help) because you’d be red-flagged. It would be your exit out of the Army,” Shane Barrett said. “The guys in the Army are just flat-out afraid to come forward.”

At the Department of Defense, anti-suicide chief Garrick was asked if the Army is indeed clinging to a culture of “suck it up" and handle your own problems,” as some Army families contend.

“No, I think all of the services have done a pretty good job of trying to get a message out. The Army ... they’ve done the 'shoulder-to-shoulder,' (approach, and have said) ‘no soldier stands alone.' That’s been some of their messaging, now going back a while,” Garrick said.

“The Secretary of Defense (Leon Panetta), this past year, issued a statement talking about how our service members are our most valuable resource and that we need to do everything we can to take care of our people. So we’re doing everything we can to prevent suicides in the military, recognizing that it’s a complex and urgent problem.”

More content from NBCNews.com:

• One inch: Death in combat hinges on the tiniest of margins
• From war with love: Christmas letters home span centuries but hit same notes
• After firing soldier in 2000, USPS ordered to rehire him — and pay him $2 million
• Same-sex wife of Army officer banned from joining military spouses club
• Military cracks down on alcohol abuse amid age-old bingeing habit 
• Fewer homeless vets 2012, but advocacy group sees 'alarming' trend
• Florida guide uses hunting as rustic therapy for combat veterans

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

NBC News

1st Lt. Audrey Moton is seen at the Army's Sapper Leader Training course for combat engineers at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

While the Pentagon brass and U.S. military leaders are struggling over how to bring women into ground combat training, two young female soldiers have already proven they've got what it takes to join their male counterparts on the battlefield.

1st Lt. Audrey Moton and 2nd Lt. Carley Turnnidge, both West Point graduates, took on the Army's Sapper Leader Training course for combat engineers at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.  It's one of the toughest combat training courses in the entire U.S. military and the only course of its kind that accepts women.  Since 1999, nearly 60 women have made the grade.

For more on women in combat, watch NBC Nightly News' two-part series. Part One airs on Saturday, Dec. 1.

Moton at 5'6'', and Turnnidge, barely reaching 5'4'', faced 28 grueling days of physical torture with little sleep or food.  But that was only half the challenge.  Training alongside 36 larger, more muscular male soldiers, both instinctively felt that as women they had to prove they could hold their own.  They did.

Turnnidge, a high school and West Point soccer star, went above and beyond the call.  After failing in tactical operations in her first try, remarkably, she took the course twice -- 56 straight days without a break.  In a training swim, Turnnidge had to drag her exhausted male partner back across the lake.  Moton vigorously trained to get in shape before she ever got to the course and believes she and Turnnidge actually motivated the men. "They'd think, 'Wait, I don't wanna get beat by a girl.' Well, then run faster," she said. "I'm not going to stop."

While women are permitted to fly fighter jets and attack helicopters in combat missions, Pentagon policy prohibits female soldiers and Marines from serving in direct ground combat roles.  In the past 11 years of guerrilla-style combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, those battle lines were essentially erased.  More than 130 female service members were killed and 800 wounded.  This week the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit to lift the ban on women in combat.

Both Moton and Turnnidge passed the course and earned the coveted title "SAPPER."  While it will likely open doors for future promotions and positions of leadership, they have no illusions they'll ever see ground combat themselves,  but believe they're helping pave the way for other female soldiers in the future. "It sets me apart from my peers," Turnnidge said, "and over time more women will be able to prove themselves."

Moton is convinced with proper training and personal commitment, women will inevitably see duty in ground combat. "Down the road, we'll see many more women doing this. We're gettin' there."

More content from NBCNews.com:

• 66 species of coral proposed for protection by US
• College students witness murder suicide in class
• Wikileaks case: Manning asked why he didn't complain earlier
• Missouri Powerball jackpot winners revealed: 'We’re still stunned by what’s happened'
• Mystery man claims winning Powerball ticket ... in Maryland?
• Harvard latest college to accept BDSM club

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Lester Holt, NBC News' anchor, is in Afghanistan reporting on the state of the U.S. mission there 11 years after the start of the war. 

What is the state of the war? Where are the Taliban?  How much longer will U.S. troops be there? What about all the repeat deployments for U.S. soldiers?

Lester answered reader questions about Afghanistan earlier today.

Please click on the box below to replay the informative chat. 

 From Lester Holt: For US soldiers, repeat deployments 'definitely take a toll'

What legal consequences could a former U.S. Navy SEAL face for writing a book about the still-classified 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden?  

Legal experts say the author could face trouble on two fronts -- a civil lawsuit for not seeking a military review before the book was published and possible criminal prosecution for revealing classified information.

But a former Justice Department national security lawyer, Pat Rowan, said the government might be reluctant to prosecute a man who helped kill America's No. 1 terrorist enemy, unless the book reveals highly valuable and sensitive intelligence secrets.

 "What's more, if the government did decide to prosecute, the author's lawyer would be entitled to dig into the information that was disclosed by the White House and other officials, in both sanctioned and unsanctioned leaks," Rowan said.

Rowan was referring to the fact that President Barack Obama and other administration officials have been accused by Republicans of leaking details of the bin Laden raid for political gain. 

Dutton, a subsidiary of Penguin Group USA, announced on Wednesday that the book, titled "No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden," would go on sale on Sept. 11. The author, who will be identified only by a pseudonym, “was one of the first men through the door on the third floor of the terrorist leader’s hideout and was present at his death,” it said in a statement.

A similar case arose in the 1970s, when a former CIA officer named Frank Snepp published a book about his activities in Vietnam.

The U.S. government sued on the grounds that he did not seek pre-publication review -- as he was obligated to do under an agreement he signed as a condition of employment -- and lower courts agreed to a demand that all the profits from the book be turned over to the government. By a vote of 6-3, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed, even though the government never claimed the book revealed classified information.

"When a former agent relies on his own judgment about what information is detrimental, he may reveal information that the CIA -- with its broader understanding of what may expose classified information and confidential sources -- could have identified as harmful," the court said.

These days, said former Homeland Security official Stewart Baker, most government non-disclosure agreements say that if pre-publication review isn't sought, the profits must be forfeited. Legal experts doubt, however, that the government could stop publication of the book.

The author could also be charged with violating federal laws that make it a crime for government employees to reveal classified information.  Anyone given a security clearance is bound for life by its non-disclosure terms, so the fact that the former SEAL is no longer in the military would not free him from the obligation to keep government secrets to himself.

A DOJ official who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity on Thursday said he knew of no legal action against the former SEAL. That process would most likely start with a request from the Defense Department and, so far as the official knew, none had been made. DOD would have to verify that the book revealed government secrets before making such a request, the official said.

On Christmas Day in 2009, Vermont National Guard Capt. Zachariah Fike received a gift from his mother, Joyce — a Purple Heart medal that she found in an old antique store.

But instead of displaying the medal in his home, Zac, who collects antiques, immediately took to the Internet. He began researching the name engraved in the brass finish — Corrado Piccoli — in hopes of returning the medal to its rightful owner.

“[For] a lot of these families, it’s closure,” Fike says of the Purple Heart medal. “It’s the only tangible thing that the families received after their loved one died. It’s something you can touch, that you can hold, that you can look at. And that’s all they have of him. It’s probably the most important thing in their lives.”

Using the Internet — along with documents found at a local high school and library, — Fike obtained information about the medal’s recipient, including his draft out of junior college and the mission liberating a French village during World War II, that would ultimately lead to his death.

The amateur investigator eventually found Piccoli’s surviving relatives — including his sister, Adeline Rockko of Watertown, N.Y., to whom he placed a call.

Through the research, Fike says, he got to know the family so well that upon making contact, he reminded Adeline of things she’d forgotten and was able to even share things about her brother she’d never known.

“I had the conversation with Zac and it was like opening a door in a closet that’s full of secrets — memories and everything just floats out,” Adeline said. “And the memories came back, they were very vivid.”

The connection has become the foundation for a close relationship between the two families, and set the groundwork for a first-ever Piccoli family reunion back in 2011, when dozens came together for a formal presentation of Corrado Piccoli’s Purple Heart.

“I felt throughout the process that [Piccoli] was communicating with me,” Fike said. I really felt like I was the messenger in the return, and in essence, it brought his family back together. So, I feel that I am a part of him and his family. And I do consider him a brother in arms again. I consider them a second family.”

A third-generation soldier, Fike is well aware of the sentimental significance of the Purple Heart medal. Since 1932, it has been presented to families of soldiers who lost their lives in combat, as well as to soldiers who have been wounded in action — as was the case with Zac, who was wounded in Afghanistan on Sept. 11, 2010.

“I’m just glad to be here,” Fike said. “I’m glad I can be on a wall of honor in my mom’s home. And I would hope one day, if my medal was lost, that somebody would do the same thing that I do.”

Since the return of Piccoli’s medal, Fike has returned five more. He acquires them in a variety of places, including Craigslist and nursing homes — he even was given one from a landfill. He’s working on returning half a dozen others — and says he comes across more every week. Through word of mouth, Fike has become the go-to resource for tracking and returning lost medals.  

“People from that generation ... are passing by the day, he said. “Unfortunately [the medals] are misplaced during moves over the years. They’re sold by family members that don’t either understand or appreciate the value of them…so they end up in antique shops and things of that nature.”

In fact, Fike’s mother originally picked up the valuable artifact at the antique shop because she thought her son would appreciate the addition to his collection. Fike, quite the antique aficionado, has been collecting memorabilia for years — including photographs and record players.

Joyce knew her son would appreciate the medal — but had no idea the extent to which he’d go to return it.

“I thought he was going to keep it in his collection, so it surprised me that he has done this and it’s taken off the way it has,” she said. “I’m very proud of him for doing it. When I met these families and heard their stories, he’s done the right thing instead of keeping them in his collection.”

As for Fike, he is committed to continuing to his own mission of restoring these lost medals.

“I’ve always had that passion … even before, you know, I was wounded. I just grew up in a military family and I learned to appreciate military service and sacrifice. I think it adds to the allure of the story, absolutely. But I don’t think it makes me any more inclined to do what I do.” 

Those who need help returning medals can email PurpleHeartsReunited@hotmail.com or call 315-523-3609.

Updated at 12:35 p.m. ET: KABUL, Afghanistan -- A man wearing an Afghan army uniform shot and killed three American Marines, the U.S. military command said Friday. Afghan officials said the victims were American special operations forces troops.

Reuters reported that an Afghan police commander opened fire on the service members after inviting them to a meeting to discuss security. A U.S. military official confirmed the three deaths and said another service member had been injured during the incident.

NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski reported that a "lone gunman" remained on the loose and was being hunted. U.S. military officials said all of the American victims were Marines.

Citing Afghan officials, Reuters said the American special operations forces members were killed late Thursday while attending a meeting in the Sarwan Qala area, in what appeared to be a planned attack by rogue Afghan forces.

"The commander was Afghan National Police in charge of local police in Sangin," a senior Afghan official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Sangin is a district of Helmand province.

"It looks like he had drawn up a plan to kill them previously," the official added.

A military official told NBC News' Courtney Kube that it was unclear whether the gunman was a member of the Afghan security forces or whether he was just wearing a uniform.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Associated Press by telephone that the attacker, whom he identified as a member of Helmand police named Asadullah, had been helping U.S. forces train Afghan local police troops. However, the Taliban has made false claims about the details of attacks in the past.

The attack is the third killing this week of coalition soldiers by Afghans who are training to take over responsibility for security once most international forces leave in 2014.

So-called "green on blue" shootings, in which Afghan police or soldiers turn their guns on their Western mentors, have seriously eroded trust between the allies.

According to NATO, there have been 24 such attacks on foreign troops since January in which 28 people have been killed. Last year, there were 21 attacks in which 35 people were killed.

Senior Army leader slain
Earlier, the Pentagon confirmed that three U.S. service members -- including a senior Army leader -- and an American aid worker were killed Wednesday by a suicide bomber in Kunar province.

The victims included Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, the most senior enlisted soldier for the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Griffin, 45, of Riverton, Wyo., was a Bronze Star recipient who first enlisted in the Army in 1988.

Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, 35, of West Point, N.Y., and Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray, 38, of Conyers, Ga., were also killed. USAID foreign service officer Ragaei Abdelfattah was identified as the other victim.

On Tuesday, two gunmen wearing Afghan army uniforms killed a U.S. soldier and wounded two others in Paktia province in the east.

And on Thursday, two Afghan soldiers tried to gun down a group of NATO troops outside a military base in eastern Afghanistan. No international forces were killed, but one of the attackers was killed as NATO forces shot back.

NBC News' Courtney Kube, Jim Miklaszewski and Atia Abawi, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

Ahmad Jamshid / AP

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

Launch slideshow

More world stories from NBC News:

• Video: This-$4,000-per jar caviar boasts socialist roots
• Notorious Colombian druglord arrested, headed to US for trial
• Who'll win the gold medal for partying? Olympians let hair down
• 'Situation is desperate' for ill Syrian refugees in Turkey
• Are these German protesters the world's oldest squatters?
• Journalist: British militants took me hostage in Syria
• Canada lobster fishermen lash out at cheaper US exports
• Race to London's Olympic Park: Fastest way is ...?

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered the Air Force to restrict flights of its new F-22 stealth fighters because of continuing problems with the aircraft's oxygen system.

At least 22 pilots have suffered from oxygen deprivation while in flight since April 2008.

Panetta on Tuesday ordered that all F-22 flights remain within a "proximate distance" of an airfield in case a pilot should suffer from a hypoxia event and be forced to land. That will force an immediate end to F-22 patrol missions over Alaska.

Panetta also ordered the Air Force to accelerate installment of a backup oxygen system in all F-22s and provide monthly progress reports on efforts to identify the problem with the current oxygen system.  The Air Force does not expect to begin installing automatic backup oxygen systems until December of this year.

Watch the Top Videos on msnbc.com

Handout / U.S. Air Force via Reuters file

A F-22 Raptor fighter jet flies in a training mission during Red Flag 12-3 over the Nevada Test and Training Range.

The Air Force has been unable to determine the cause of the 12 incidents of hypoxia suffered by pilots of the F-22. Pilots have reported wooziness while flying the supersonic jet, considered the most advanced fighter plane in the world.

Some of the military’s top aviators have refused to fly the radar-evading planes because of the oxygen system problems.

The supersonic plane has also been criticized in the past for its high-maintenance costs. 

The Air Force reports that each of the aircraft costs $143 million. The U.S. Government Accountability Office, however, estimates that each F-22 cost taxpayers $412 million, if upgrades and research and development expenses are included.

Jim Miklaszewski is the chief Pentagon correspondent for NBC News. Courtney Kube, NBC's Pentagon producer, and msnbc.com reporter Jeff Black contributed to this report.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Cities struggle to keep Memorial Day, Fourth of July celebrations
• Marines sold stolen combat weapons to gangs, China
• Fire captain demoted for Trayvon Martin Facebook post
• Video: Brutal violence escalates in Mexico drug wars
• Shopper bitten by rattlesnake in Wal-Mart

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook