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during one of the war in afghanistan's
worst battles 21 year old scout sniper
dakota meyer took one brave risk
after learning that four of his closest
friends were missing after an ambush in
a heavily taliban occupied area meyer
decided to look for them by himself
hurt and tired the marine looked for the
group while hiding as best he could from
a rain of bullets saving over a dozen
lives including army soldiers marines
and afghan trainees
dakota meyer became the second youngest
living medal of honor recipient and the
first living u.s marine since the
vietnam war to earn the united states
military's highest honor
he was also the only one to share a beer
with the president before the ceremony
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no man left behind
while on his second deployment with the
united states marines since enlisting in
2006 kentucky native scout sniper dakota
meyer learned that three fellow marines
and a navy corpsman
members of his marine embedded training
team 2-8 squad and close friends had
gone missing after an ambush
on september 8 2009 the marines were
trapped deep into a hill zone with no
air nor artillery support
the radios barely worked and they
communicated sporadically as dozens of
insurgents fired on them repeatedly from
three different sides
in the early morning one of the confined
men gunnery sergeant edwin johnson
yelled into his radio quote was
surrounded they're moving in on us
an enraged 21 year old meyer then
decided to look for them
he and a fellow marine tried to enter
the kill zone at least twice by using an
armored vehicle mounted with a machine
gun however they were forced back each
time and by a reign of bullets mortars
and rocket-propelled grenades one of
which emitted shrapnel that hurt
dakota's elbow
meyer shook it off despite the pain as
he didn't want his staff sergeant to
take him away from the mission
with no time to lose after helicopter
pilots said the area was too dangerous
for them to land meyer charged into a
kill zone near the village of ganjagal
and the taliban controlled kunar
province on foot and by himself
under heavy enemy fire and already
wounded meyer charged on trying to find
them
he eventually found the four missing
servicemen upon reaching a trench but it
was too late
the bodies of gunnery sergeant edwin
johnson staff sergeant aaron kenovich
first lieutenant michael johnson navy
hospital corpsman third class james
layton and an afghan soldier the men
were training laid there and they'd been
stripped of their weapons armors and
radios
as meyer tried to keep his composure and
ponder what to do he spotted a taliban
fighter trying to take his fellow
americans away
not willing to let the enemy hurt his
friends once again the marine tackled
the taliban fighter and after a brief
scuffle six foot 225 pound dakota
overran the foe and took his
life with the help of afghan soldiers
meyer then carried his friends out of
the kill zone and into a humvee vehicle
then rather than follow orders to stay
at a safe distance from the intense
firefight that ensued meyer ignored
orders and went back time and time again
risking his life to save others
during the six-hour battle the sniper
evacuated 12 men provided cover for over
20 marines and u.s army soldiers and
finished eight taliban fighters in the
process
in february of 2010 army officials
announced that negligent leadership
during the events of september 8 2009
had led to direct loss of life on the
battlefield
according to the report higher ranking
officers repeatedly refused pleas for
artillery support from u.s forces on the
ground
these officers also failed to notify
higher commands that american troops
were stuck in taliban occupied areas
thus three unidentified officers most
likely captains or majors were
recommended for official reprimands
to this day army officials have not
publicly stated whether those reprimands
were ever carried out
medal of honor
a little over a year later on november 6
2010 general james f amos commandant of
the marine corps announced to reporters
that days before his retirement the
corps last top officer general james
conway had made a recommendation to
award the medal of honor to a living
marine
he didn't say the name of the man who'd
been recommended but general amos
described the marine as a courageous
patriot and expressed his excitement
about a living recipient
less than a week later the marine corps
times and official news sources broke
the story to the unnamed person was
dakota meyer
when president barack obama's team
called meyer to set up a phone call with
the president the marine who was already
back on the mainland after his four-year
contract with the military expired
couldn't answer due to his construction
job
when he was finally reached for comment
meyer was still unaware of the
recommendation
he later said to the press that he did
not feel like a hero and that the
horrible and devastating effects of that
day were still dwelling on him quote
whatever comes out of it it's for those
guys
i feel like the furthest thing from a
hero
i feel like i let my guys down because i
didn't bring them home alive
when the white house finally got a hold
of meyer the veteran had two requests
for the oval office to share a beer with
the president before the ceremony
and simultaneous commemorative services
to honor the memory of his fallen
colleagues
then on september 15 2011 dakota meyer
was awarded the highest military honor
the nervous kentucky native stood still
in his dress uniform not used to being
the center of attention and with sweat
on his forehead due to the bright
television lights
during the ceremony president obama
praised his brave actions
in meijer the mandatory stated that he
saw a quote the best of a generation
that has served through distinction
through a decade of war
meyer became the second youngest living
medal of honor recipient the third
living recipient for either the iraq war
or the war in afghanistan and the first
living united states marine since the
vietnam war to be honored
the approval of meyer's medal carried
out in less than a year came as
lawmakers pressed the military services
and the pentagon to bestow more
decorations as only ten had been
presented from the afghanistan and iraq
wars seven of them posthumously
controversy
almost two weeks after becoming the
first living marine to earn the medal of
honor in almost 40 years dakota meyer
filed suit against his former employer
defense contractor bae systems
in the lawsuit meyer alleged that during
his employment his supervisor ridiculed
meyer's medal of honor as well as his
mental health and sobriety to a defense
department official resulting in a
competing company's decline to hire him
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further claimed that his dispute with
the company also had to do with the
veteran's dissatisfaction and disgust at
the prospect of bae selling advanced
rifle equipment to the pakistani
military which he distrusted
the lawsuit turned into a public
relations disaster for bae one of the
world's leading defense corporations
however by mid-december of 2011 bae
announced that the company had settled
and resolved their dispute with the
medal of honor recipient out of court
stating that the corporation quote has
the highest respect for sergeant dakota
meyer who exemplifies the qualities that
make the men and women of our armed
services the best in the world
we owe him and the many thousands of
others who have served and sacrificed
for our country our deepest thanks
the same week the lawsuit was dropped
mcclatchy news correspondent jonathan s
landay published a lengthy article
questioning the number of lives dakota
meyer saved
glenda reported that among the facts the
marine corps officials embellished in
some accounts was the claim that myers
repeated trips to evacuate comrades
under fire during the 2009 ambush in
afghanistan saved the lives of 13
americans
landed claimed that only 12 americans
were ambushed including himself and that
of those four did not make it alive
lende also reported that it was not
clear as the marine corps had said that
meyer and another marine disobeyed
orders to mount the rescue attempts
adding that there is not enough evidence
to assert that meyer finished at least
eight taliban insurgents
according to the report crucial parts of
the mission publicized by the marine
corps were untrue and substantiated or
wildly exaggerated
still lenders stated that quote meyer
the 296th marine to earn the medal by
all accounts deserves his nomination
at least seven witnesses attested to him
performing heroic deeds in the face of
almost certain death
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civilian life
myers struggled heavily after the
september 2009 events but after retiring
from service he's become a fierce
advocate for veteran mental health and
employment
for years dakota has been working with
the united states chamber of commerce
program called hiring our heroes a
foundation that addresses high
unemployment amongst veterans
meyer also pays tribute to his fallen
friends by wearing a bracelet engraved
with their names every day
then in the summer of 2021 meyer joined
the marble falls fire rescue as a
full-time firefighter where the only
marine to receive the medal of honor as
far back as the vietnam war continues to
save lives
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