The Unfortunate Thing That Happened After a Medal of Honor Recipient Banged the Gavel at the Stock Exchange

Former Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts was presented with the Medal of Honor this week by President Barack Obama, but his being honored for his gallantry in battle didn't stop there.

Pitts on Wednesday was given the duty of banging the gavel for the New York Stock Exchange at the ringing of the "closing bell."

That's when something unexpected happened that left those on stage with a look of surprise.

Former Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts banged the gavel at the closing bell of the NYSE, but then this happened… (Image source: YouTube)

Watch the incident for yourself:

That's right, Pitts broke the gavel.

The former military member, who has since transitioned to civilian life, served a 14-month deployment in Afghanistan and was honored for his service during the battle of Wanat, which occurred in July 2008 and left several American soldiers dead or wounded, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in the war.

"I still think about it every day," Pitts told the Army about that day. "But most of the time, I think about what we did when we were together. I'm still awestruck. I saw what fellow Soldiers did. It was unbelievable."

(H/T: Legal Insurrection)

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This story has been updated to correct that the award is the Medal of Honor, not the Congressional Medal of Honor as originally reported.