LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Dakota Meyer was ambling through the cafeteria of his Kentucky high school in 2006 when he came upon a recruiter for the Marines. Curious, the beefy senior struck up a conversation but told the military man he was hoping to play college football.
“Yeah, that’s what I would do, because there’s no way you could be a Marine,” the recruiter told him.
Meyer walked away, the taunting words ringing in his ears. He returned five minutes later, ready to enlist.
Now, more than five years later, the farm boy is poised today to receive the military’s highest award, the Medal of Honor, lauded for charging through heavy gunfire on five death-defying trips to rescue comrades ambushed by insurgents in Afghanistan in September 2009.
All told, Meyer saved 36 lives — those of 13 Marines and Army soldiers along with 23 Afghan soldiers — all while providing cover for the troops to fight their way out of a withering, six-hour firefight with the Taliban that killed five other U.S. soldiers. And Meyer personally killed at least eight insurgents despite being wounded himself, according to the military.
President Barack Obama will bestow the medal on Meyer at a White House ceremony, making the soft-spoken 23-year-old former Marine the first from his branch who is living to receive the honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.
“It’s hard … getting recognized for the worst day of your life, so it’s … it’s a really tough thing,” Meyer said, struggling for words. He insisted his comrades be remembered, so memorial services are being held in their hometowns to coincide with his visit to the White House today.
