Tribute to Dakota Myers

Dakota L. Meyer (born June 26, 1988) is a United States Marine Corps veteran and recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Ganjgal on September 8, 2009, part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Kunar province, Afghanistan. He is the third living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War, and the first living United States Marine in 38 years to be so
honored. Biography Meyer was born in Greensburg, Kentucky in 1988, where he grew up and attended school.[2] In 2006, after graduation from Green County High School, he enlisted in
the Marine Corps at a recruiting station in Louisville, Kentucky and was sent to Recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.[2] Military service After completing training to be a United
States Marine he deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2007 as a Scout Sniper with 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines. He gained national attention for his actions in Afghanistan
during his second deployment in Kunar province with Embedded Training Team 2-8.[3][4] On September 8, 2009, near the village of
Ganjgal, Meyer learned that three U.S.
Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman were missing after being ambushed by a group
of insurgents. He charged into an area
known to be inhabited by insurgents and
under enemy fire. Meyer eventually found
all four dead and stripped of their weapons, body armor, and radios.[5] With the help of some friendly Afghan soldiers,
he moved the bodies to a safer area where they could be extracted.[6] During his search, Meyer "personally evacuated
12 friendly wounded, and provided cover
for another 24 Marines and soldiers to
escape likely death at the hands of a
numerically superior and determined
foe." President Obama and the audience applaud after Dakota Meyer was awarded the Medal of Honor during a ceremony in
the White House on September 15, 2011 On November 6, 2010, the Commandant of the Marine Corps General James Amos told reporters during a visit to Camp Pendleton, California, that a living Marine had been nominated for the Medal of
Honor. Two days later, Marine Corps Times, an independent newspaper covering U.S. Marine operations, reported
that the unnamed individual was Meyer,
citing anonymous sources. CNN confirmed the story independently two days later.[7] [8] On June 9, 2011, the Marine Corps
announced that two other Marines on
Meyer's team in Ganjgal would receive the Navy Cross, the second-highest award for valor a Marine can receive. Capt. Ademola
D. Fabayo and Staff Sgt. Juan J. Rodriguez-
Chavez were recognized for their roles in
retrieving the Marines and corpsman.
Before Meyer went looking for the
missing men on foot, Rodriguez-Chavez drove a gun truck into the kill zone, with Fabayo manning its machine gun.[9] When President Barack Obama's staff
called Meyer to set up a time for the
President to inform him that his case for
the Medal of Honor had been approved,
Meyer was working at his construction job
and asked if they could please call him back when he was on his lunch break,
which they later did. Dakota then returned to work.[10] Meyer was awarded the Medal of Honor in a ceremony on September 15, 2011.[1] [11] When a White House staffer contacted Meyer to arrange the ceremony,
Meyer asked if he could have a beer with the President.[12] He received an invitation to the White House the
afternoon before the ceremony. Meyer
also requested that when he was
honored, simultaneous commemorative
services should be held at other
associated locations to honor the memory of his colleagues who died or were
mortally wounded during the ambush and his rescue attempts.[13] Four Americans died in the ambush: 1st
Lt. Michael Johnson, a 25-year-old from
Virginia Beach; Staff Sgt. Aaron Kenefick,
30, of Roswell, Ga.; Hospital Corpsman
Third Class James R. Layton, 22, of
Riverbank, Calif.; and Edwin Wayne Johnson Jr., a 31-year-old Gunnery
Sergeant from Columbus, Ga. A fifth man,
Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth W.
Westbrook, 41, of Shiprock, N.M., later died from his wounds.
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