Marine hero Dakota Meyer launches new blog
March 22nd, 2012 | Ganjgal Medal of Honor Veterans | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Dakota Meyer posted this photograph to his new blog after sustaining a cheek wound while assisting in tornado relief in his native Kentucky. (Courtesy Actions Not Words)
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 in which he and others have participated in West Liberty, Ky.
The photograph above shows Meyer after he “almost lost my head to a tree limb” that crashed into the cab of his Bobcat earthmover during relief work, he wrote this week. The sight is about 180 miles from his hometown of Greensburg.
Meyer, now a sergeant in the Individual Ready Reserve, is credited with charging into an open kill zone multiple times on Sept. 8, 2009, in Ganjgal, Afghanistan, in an attempt to save four missing members of his embedded training team.
I’ve reached out to Meyer to get his thoughts on launching the blog and the sights in West Liberty. I’ll add more here soon if I hear from him.
Behind the Cover: ‘Kyle covered that grenade’ — Marines weigh in on grenade blast survivor’s heroism
January 23rd, 2012 | Afghanistan Awards Infantry Marjah Medal of Honor | Posted by Dan Lamothe
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 that day to step forward to tell their side of the story. They’re adamant in their response: based on what they saw, Carpenter deserves the Medal of Honor, they say.
This week’s cover story reflects that. It outlines what they remember and what the Corps has asked them to do as the investigation moves forward. Combined, the two cover stories share Carpenter and Eufrazio’s ordeal in a way that no other publication has, more than a year later.
As we’ve mentioned before, the case is complicated by chance. All of the Marines interviewed for this story were close when the grenade exploded, but could only hear it and respond. Carpenter said he doesn’t remember what happened, and Eufrazio has been unable to speak about the incident due brain damage he suffered as a complication.
The issue is on newsstands now beginning today. You can also read it by subscribing here online.
Three new ships named after Marines — but did the Navy get it right?
January 6th, 2012 | Blue-Green operations History and heritage Medal of Honor | Posted by Dan Lamothe
The destroyer Jason Dunham was named after the Marine Corps' first Medal of Honor recipient in the Iraq war. (Bath Iron Works photograph)
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 has taken a hit in the naming other ships in the last few years, though. As Navy Times colleague Sam Fellman pointed out in a story last month, chief among those are the Cesar Chavez and the John P. Murtha, both of which rankled a variety of conservative politicians, service members and military advocates.
The Cesar Chavez, a Lewis and Clark-class cargo ship, was named after a labor leader and civil rights activist, raising questions about whether politics were involved with some critics. The class of ship is usually named after pioneers, but most other namesakes in the class (Alan Shepherd, Lewis and Clark, Amelia Earhart) were decidedly a different kind of pioneer.
The John P. Murtha, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship, was named after the Marine veteran and late congressman. It outraged some Marines and Marine families who remembered that he accused Marines of “killing innocent people” in Hadithah, Iraq, before an investigation had concluded and anyone had been charged.
Those are controversial names, to be sure — and ones that could have been avoided in favor of others on which virtually all Americans could agree.
That brings us to the Navy’s decision, announced yesterday, on what to name the three first mobile landing platform ships.
“I chose to name the department’s new MLPs Montford Point, John Glenn and Lewis B. Puller as a way to recognize these American pioneers and heroes both collectively and individually,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a statement. “The courage shown by these Marines helped forge the Corps into the most formidable expeditionary force in the world.”
It’s hard to argue with using the names. Glenn is an American hero, a Marine aviator who served in combat and later became an astronaut and U.S. senator. “Chesty” Puller is a Marine legend, a five-time Navy Cross recipient who served in some of the bloodiest battles of World War II and the Korean War. Montford Point served as the training ground to thousands of black Marines who served in World War II.
The question is whether the names were used on the right kind of ship — and yes, it has mattered in the past.
There are certainly variations, but ship classes have typically followed themes. For example, many amphibious assault ships are named after famous battles — Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Makin Island, etc.
Montford Point is a place. It’s one that has been memorialized several times in the last year, and rightfully so. More than 20,000 black recruits were trained there from 1942 to 1949, and their service is credited with leading the U.S. to desegregate the military.
Puller and Glenn, on the other hand, are people. In fact, as I learned in a conversation with Defense News sage Chris Cavas, Puller’s name was used on a guided-missile frigate that was decommissioned in 1998. That Lewis B. Puller was part of a class of ship named after another war hero, American Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.
Wouldn’t it have made sense, then, to wait and name another San Antonio-class ship after Montford Point, memorializing its black Marine veterans with a ship that will carry modern-day Marines? The San Antonio class already is named after a location, so it would have held form. It also certainly would have been more popular across the Corps than naming a San Antonio-class ship after Murtha.
Also, wouldn’t it have made sense to name a destroyer or some other fearsome ship with heavy guns the Lewis B. Puller, rather than a mobile landing platform? Granted, the MLPs will have a major role in seabasing, a Marine Corps concept, but it doesn’t exactly square with Puller’s legendary status.
As Fellman pointed out in his story, Congress is expecting the Navy to report back this year and explain how it names its ships. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next year.
Dakota Meyer’s Medal of Honor saga continues
December 13th, 2011 | Ganjgal Medal of Honor | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Sgt. Dakota Meyer stands in the White House after being presented the Medal of Honor in September. (Associated Press photo)
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 the same ground again (the most recent piece posted here). Still, it’s interesting to see various media outlets keep the story alive with fresh coverage, more than two years after the fact.
Several stories appeared over the weekend about Meyer, Ganjgal and where everything stands.
The Buffalo News, for example, focused on the attack from the perspective of Gunnery Sgt. Aaron Kenefick, a mentor of Meyer’s who died in the battle. Kenefick attended high school in Williamsville, N.Y., and will always be considered a local hero there.
The San Antonio Express-News, meanwhile, has a well done piece highlighting what Meyer has been up to recently — including information about his recently filed lawsuit against BAE Systems, his former employer.
A number of people have asked me my opinion on the suit, aware of the amount of time I spent covering Meyer and the aftermath of the ambush.
I’ll say this much: If BAE Systems wasn’t aware that Meyer would express his opinion loudly and clearly while working for them, they probably weren’t paying attention before they hired him. Meyer doesn’t suffer fools, and I’ve never known him to shy away from saying what he really thinks. Anyone else I’ve met who knows him in any capacity is quick to say that, too.
It’s for this reason that it wasn’t surprising to see Meyer insert himself in the presidential race, either. He joined four other veterans in recent video endorsing Texas Gov. Rick Perry as the next commander in chief:
Meyer seems well aware of the standing the Medal of Honor gives him, and he’s using it in a variety of ways. Notably, the Express-News reports that Meyer has now raised $350,000 toward his $1 million Dakota Meyer Scholarship Challenge to America. The money will benefit the children of wounded warriors through the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.
Marine veteran raps birthday tribute to Cpl. Jason Dunham
November 11th, 2011 | Awards Iraq Medal of Honor Pop culture | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
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, often listening to music to pass the time. “Music is a hobby,” he said. While he was in the Corps, “I rapped a lot.” What he hoped could be a music career took a back seat to marriage and a child and the responsibilities of family. Then, six months ago, he picked it back up, prompted by a catchy song he heard on his iPod. “I was outside, painting with my dad,” he recalled. “I wanted to do something.”
That’s when Jason Dunham came to mind. “We had all heard about him,” he recalled. “He’s just like a legendary hero.” So he jotted all sorts of ideas that came to him, “and before I knew it, I had verses down.” He set out to learn more about Dunham, devouring the book, The Gift of Valor, and pouring through whatever he could find online. “He’s a modern-day hero. He gave his life. It takes so much courage,” he said.
Potter, 26, knew that Dunham shared the same birthday as the Marine Corps itself: Nov. 10. So a week ago, with the final verses completed, and photos and images collected and edited into a video, he recorded the song and posted it on YouTube the following day. He sent out scores of emails to people he knows and others he’s never met, including a group of Blue Star Mothers, promoting the video and pointing out the site on YouTube.
“Last night, Corporal Dunham’s mother called me,” Potter said, speaking Nov. 10 from his home in Boca Raton, Fla. Her call surprised and moved him. “I was trying to explain the idea, as best as I could,” he said. “I said, I hope that writing this song doesn’t bring back any pain.’”
Debra Dunham reminded him that Jason would have turned 30, he said, and she reiterated to Potter a simple message. “Never take anything for granted,” he said. “She said, ‘you just don’t know how long you’re going to have it.”