Medal of Honor

Behind the Cover: In new book, Dakota Meyer unloads

By Dan Lamothe on August 13, 2012 Afghanistan, Awards, Behind the Cover, Ganjgal, Medal of Honor

Last week, I reported for Marine Corps Times that Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer acknowledges in his new book that he attempted to kill himself in 2010, one year after surviving the battle that led to him receiving the nation’s top valor award. The story generated a wide range of reaction from readers. Some blasted me for writing a story specifically about Meyer’s struggles, even though he chose to speak about it freely in an interview and disclosed the suicide attempt in his forthcoming book, “Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War.” Others praised…

Marine hero Dakota Meyer’s book set for September release

By Dan Lamothe on July 16, 2012 Awards, Ganjgal, Medal of Honor, Pop culture

Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer’s new book is scheduled to be released in September, three years after the devastating battle that led to his heroic actions. “Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War” will be available Sept. 25, according to its listing on Amazon.com. The 272-page book is written by Meyer and Bing West, a Marine veteran who has authored several best-selling works. It will be published by Random House, which also has it listed on its website. The cover image of the book shows Meyer in Afghanistan in 2009, wearing…

Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s Medal of Honor case shifts again

By Dan Lamothe on June 22, 2012 Awards, Infantry, Iraq, Medal of Honor, Washington

Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s case for the Medal of Honor has shifted again, according to a congressman who has pressed the Pentagon to review new evidence that he says shows the Marine chose to smother a grenade to save his buddies in Iraq. Peralta, 25, died Nov. 15, 2004, in Fallujah. He was awarded the Navy Cross in 2008 for disregarding his own personal safety while already mortally wounded, pulling the grenade to his body, “absorbing the brunt of the blast and shielding fellow Marines only feet away,” according to his award citation. Despite the extraordinary heroism, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates…

Marine Sgt Rafael Peralta and the Medal of Honor

By Gina Cavallaro on May 18, 2012 Awards, Capitol Hill, Marines, Medal of Honor

California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter continues to feverishly pursue the Medal of Honor for fallen Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, who scooped a grenade under his body to save other Marines in Fallujah, Iraq on Nov. 15, 2004, according to Marines who saw him do it. He was awarded the Navy Cross – even though the Marine Corps recommended him for the Medal of Honor – after the Defense Department convened its own panel which concluded the evidence for the nation’s highest award for combat valor was not sufficient. Peralta’s family rejected the Navy Cross. Hunter has doggedly pursued the higher…

Marine hero Dakota Meyer launches new blog

By Dan Lamothe on March 22, 2012 Ganjgal, Medal of Honor, Veterans

Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer has had a busy year since receiving the nation’s highest valor award in a ceremony at the White House in September. Mostly, his work has focused on public speaking appearances and raising money for the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation. However, he’s also become perhaps the first Medal of Honor recipient to actively engage the public on social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter. On top of that, he’s now added a blog outlining some of his work. “Actions Not Words” was launched March 16, and has been used since to highlight tornado relief work…

Behind the Cover: ‘Kyle covered that grenade’ — Marines weigh in on grenade blast survivor’s heroism

By Dan Lamothe on January 23, 2012 Afghanistan, Awards, Infantry, Marjah, Medal of Honor

It’s rare indeed that Marine Corps Times will publish back-to-back cover stories on the same subject. Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter’s story is exceptional, though. As I reported last week, the Marine Corps is investigating what happened in the moments before he and Lance Cpl. Nick Eufrazio were hit with grenade explosion in a guard post near Marjah, Afghanistan, on Nov. 21, 2010. Carpenter took the brunt of the blast, and the service is researching whether he deliberately attempted to protect Eufrazio. The story prompted a strong response from our readers — and for several of Carpenter’s fellow Marines present…

Three new ships named after Marines — but did the Navy get it right?

By Dan Lamothe on January 6, 2012 Blue-Green operations, History and heritage, Medal of Honor

Above, you see the destroyer Jason Dunham. It’s named after Cpl. Jason Dunham, who covered a grenade with his helmet on April 14, 2004, in an attempt to shield the blast from fellow Marines. He died eight days later, and received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroism on Jan. 11, 2007. No human being in their right mind would question the naming of the ship. It’s a logical, sensible case in which a class of ship frequently used to honor war heroes memorialized one of the greatest heroes of the Iraq war. It’s no secret that the Navy…

Dakota Meyer’s Medal of Honor saga continues

By Dan Lamothe on December 13, 2011 Ganjgal, Medal of Honor

Sgt. Dakota Meyer was presented the Medal of Honor in September, and it was hard to not get swept away in the excitement. Hundreds of people packed the East Room in the White House as President Obama hung the award around his neck. Millions more watched the ceremony on TV. And at the center of it all was a painful situation that will be difficult for families connected to the ambush in which Meyer’s heroism was honored to ever accept. I’ve written at great length about the Sept. 8, 2009, ambush in Ganjgal, Afghanistan, so there’s no reason to cover…

Marine veteran raps birthday tribute to Cpl. Jason Dunham

By Gidget Fuentes on November 11, 2011 Awards, Iraq, Medal of Honor, Pop culture

In his four years stationed at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, former Cpl. Joe Potter had never met Cpl. Jason Dunham. Potter joined the Marine Corps the year that Dunham died. But Dunham’s legacy as a combat warrior and Medal of Honor recipient who gave his life to save his fellow Marines from an insurgent’s grenade in Iraq in April 2004 had been well ingrained in Potter’s memory during the four years he spent working as an expeditionary airfield specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron. Since hanging up his uniform, Potter has worked in his father’s painting business,…

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