Of course,
A Marine who braved enemy fire alone to retrieve the bodies of his fallen comrades will be awarded the Medal of Honor, Marine Corps Times reports.A humble and modest man; of course.
Dakota Meyer, who now lives in Austin, Texas, will be the first living Marine to receive the nation's highest military honor since the Vietnam War.
...
on September 8, 2009, in Ganjgal, a remote Afghan village near the border with Pakistan. As his unit of 13 U.S. service members came under attack by a force of 50 heavily-armed insurgents, Meyer, a corporal at the time, repeatedly ran through enemy fire to recover the bodies of fellow American troops.
Killed in Ganjgal were Marine 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, Gunnery Sgts. Edwin Johnson and Aaron Kenefick and Navy Hospitalman 3rd Class James Layton, according to the Marine Corps Times. An Army soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook, later died of wounds sustained during the battle.
"Whatever award comes out of it, it's for those guys (who were killed) not for me," Meyer said in an interview with Military Times.
His was an impressive story. I would recommend you read Bing West's latest book. Aside from being a great eyes-on analysis of the Afghanistan conflict, he does a great description of CPL Meyer's actions, and those of others influencing the battle.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I read his story of Dakota's actions. Amazing read, and comforting to know that the idea of taking charge and acting on your own initiative when leadership breaks down is still alive and well in the Corps.
ReplyDeleteAnd the ghosts of Wake defenders, and those who capturd Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo jima and many more less known islands smiled...
ReplyDeleteHero!
ReplyDeleteI salute him, humbly and sincerely.
A great American hero!
ReplyDeleteWords fail. Really. I'm glad this one didn't have to be presented posthumously. He gives Austin, Texas something to be proud of. Something REAL to be proud of.
ReplyDelete