Another Living War on Terror Recipient Of Medal Of Honor Named

This time it's a Marine.

A Marine who repeatedly braved enemy fire in eastern Afghanistan attempting to find and save fellow members of his embedded training team will receive the Medal of Honor, Marine Corps Times has confirmed.

Dakota Meyer was contacted by President Obama on Monday, according to sources with knowledge of the award.
...

Meyer, who left active-duty service in June 2010 as a corporal, will be honored for his actions Sept. 8, 2009. He charged into a kill zone on foot and alone to find three missing Marines and a Navy corpsman, who had been pinned down under intense enemy fire in Ganjgal, a remote village near the Pakistan border in violent Kunar province.

Already wounded by shrapnel, Meyer found them dead and stripped of their gear and weapons, and helped carry them from the kill zone, according to military documents obtained by Marine Corps Times.

Meyer — who now lives in Austin, Texas — could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday night. In interviews with Marine Corps Times in November, he said he felt “like the furthest thing from a hero” because he did not find his fellow Marines alive.

“Whatever comes out of it, it’s for those guys,” he said at the time. “I feel like I let my guys down because I didn’t bring them home alive.”

There's no word yet on the date of the official awards ceremony.

I'm not sure what, if anything, has changed in the decision making process but I'm glad to see the military awarding Medals of Honor to men who survived their actions.

It's a bitter-sweet moment to see these men recognized. It's clear from the interviews they give and their demeanor that while we celebrate their
heroism, it's clear that the medal is reminder to them of what has to be one of the worst, if not the worst, days of their lives.

As important as these Medal of Honor recipients are, we should never forget they represent and incredibly small percentage of the servicemen and women who have been fighting and sacrificing so much for almost 10 years now. I'm not sure that on 9/10/01 many people thought we would find so many who would step up to serve for so long. Thank God for those who answered the call.

posted by DrewM. at 10:13 AM

| Access Comments