Saturday, September 17, 2011

Semper Fi

Wow:
Leaving the wounded in the rear, Cpl. Meyer and Sgt. Rodriguez-Chavez swapped Humvees. This time the enemy was waiting in a dry streambed. Rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun bullets followed Cpl. Meyer as he repeatedly left his armored turret to load the truck with wounded Afghan soldiers. At one point, he shot a tall man with a black beard. When another leapt forward under the barrel of his machine gun, Cpl. Meyer grabbed his M4 rifle and shot him in the head.

"You'll have to kill me," he shouted in the rage of battle (he had expected to be killed, he told me a few days later at his outpost in Afghanistan), "because that's the only way you'll stop me."
Cpl. Meyer has since been promoted to Sergeant.  Yesterday, he was awarded the Medal of Honor.


Heroism is the divine relation which, in all times, unites a great man to other men.
- Thomas Carlyle

2 comments:

Brad_in_IL said...

What most amazed me about this story is that Sgt. Meyer believes he failed in his mission. He admits he doesn't believe he's worthy. That's true heroism.

- Brad

Brock Townsend said...

Here's another from yesterday mainly from his hometown friends.

http://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2011/09/sgt-dakota-meyer-medal-of-honor.html