Dakota Meyer

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Dakota Meyer (2011)

Dakota L. Meyer (born June 26, 1988 in Columbia , Kentucky ) is an American war veteran . He is a former sergeant in the United States Marine Corps . Meyer received national attention for his actions with the Embedded Training Team 2-8 during his second deployment to Kunar Province , Afghanistan . He is the third living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War and was the first Marine in 38 years to receive the award in 2011.

Origin, training and military operations

Meyer grew up in Columbia. In 2006, after graduating from Green County High School , he joined the US Marine Corps. After completing his training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island , he was deployed as a scout sniper of the 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines in Fallujah, Iraq .

He was then used several times in Afghanistan. During his second mission on September 8, 2009 near the village of Ganjgal, Meyer learned that three US Marines and a Navy Hospital Corpsman had been ambushed by the Taliban together with Afghan soldiers . Meyer eventually found all four dead and robbed of their weapons, body armor, and radios. With the help of some Afghan soldiers, he moved the bodies to a safer area where they could stay. During his further search, Meyer brought to safety 12 wounded and 24 uninjured Marines and soldiers who would likely have been killed by the outnumbered and determined Taliban. Meyer himself was injured in this evacuation . Meyer carried out the operation after having been ordered several times not to carry it out.

Medal of Honor

Meyer with Barack Obama at the Medal of Honor award

On November 6, 2010, the Commandant of the Marine Corps , General James F. Amos , announced that a living Marine was nominated for the Medal of Honor, the highest military medal in the United States. The independent Marine Corps Times announced two days later that the award would go to Meyer. On September 15, 2011, Meyer was presented with the award at the White House in Washington, DC .

Next life

After retiring from active service, Dakota Meyer is a member of the reserve. A lawsuit he had brought against his former employer BAE Systems for unjustified dismissal was settled out of court in 2011.

On May 23, 2016, he married Bristol Palin , the daughter of former US Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin . They have two children together and the divorce was confirmed on August 1, 2018.

Awards

Selection, sorted according to the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

Web links

Commons : Dakota Meyer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Medal of Honor for US Soldier - Have a Beer with Obama , Spiegel online on September 16, 2011
  2. ↑ Dan Lamothe: Ambush survivor up for Medal of Honor. ( Memento of the original from November 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Marine Corps Times , Nov. 15, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.marinecorpstimes.com
  3. ↑ Hero Marine Drops Lawsuit Against Defense Giant. In: Wired , December 15, 2011.
personal data
SURNAME Meyer, Dakota
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meyer, Dakota L.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American war veteran
DATE OF BIRTH June 26, 1988
PLACE OF BIRTH Columbia , Kentucky