OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM

Medal of Honor

ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 Corporal Dakota Meyer was serving with a Marine Embedded Training Team in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. At around dawn on that day, he was providing security while four Marines of his team and two platoons of Afghan National Army personnel moved into the village of Ganjgal to meet with a group of village elders. As the patrol entered the village, however, they were suddenly met with a firestorm of Taliban small arms, mortar, and rocket fire from the surrounding buildings and hills. Meyers and one other Marine listened to the chaotic firefight and radio traffic from their position a mile away, as their Marine and Afghan comrades reported being surrounded and pinned down with mounting casualties.

Taking the initiative on himself to respond to the situation, Meyers manned the exposed machinegun position on top of a Humvee, as the other Marine drove the vehicle. Together, they made five trips into the village under a blizzard of enemy fire, collecting the dead and wounded. During one of these trips, Meyers himself was wounded but did not relent in his efforts, as described in his Medal of Honor citation:

Despite a shrapnel wound to his arm, Corporal Meyer made two more trips into the ambush area in a third gun truck . . . Still under heavy enemy fire, he dismounted the vehicle on the fifth trip and moved on foot to locate and recover the bodies of his team members. Corporal Meyer’s daring initiative and bold fighting spirit throughout the six-hour battle significantly disrupted the enemy’s attack and inspired the members of the command force to fight on.

During the White House Medal of Honor ceremony in 2011, President Barack Obama made these remarks before placing the medal around Meyer’s neck: “To our Marines, to all our men and women in uniform, to our fellow Americans, let us always be faithful. And as we prepare for the reading of the citation, let me say, God bless you, Dakota. God bless our Marines and all who serve. And God bless the United States of America. Semper Fi.”