U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta (3rd R) salutes as he receives the ceremonial scissors from U.S Marine Corps Lance Corporal Kyle Carpenter to cut the ribbon at the dedication ceremony at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, November 10, 2011. Jonathan Ernst, Reuters
Veteran Long Celebrated By Marines To Be Awarded Medal Of Honor -- Washington Post
Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter doesn’t remember much about the day he and a fellow Marine were caught in the blast of a hand grenade in southern Afghanistan while manning a rooftop security post. There was almost no time to react before the explosion tore into him in a searing, angry ball of white light.
Carpenter recalls that he “got right with God” as he was enveloped by the sensation of warm water pouring all over him. It was his own blood.
“My last few seconds before I lost consciousness,” he said, “I had accepted the fact that . . . I was not going to survive and make it off that rooftop.”
Remarkably, Carpenter did survive, despite horrific wounds. Just as remarkable is how he sustained them — by throwing himself on the grenade in an attempt to save his friend and fellow Marine, Lance Cpl. Nick Eufrazio, from harm.
On Monday, the White House announced that it would award Carpenter, 24, with the Medal of Honor for his actions, making him the second living Marine to receive the nation’s highest award for valor in combat since the Vietnam War. Fourteen other U.S. service members have received the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.
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My Comment: Sempir Fi Marine Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter.
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