Sgt. -then Cpl.- Dakota Meyer while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Ganjgal Village, Kunar province, Afghanistan. Meyer will be receiving the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor, from President Barack Obama in Washington, Sept. 15, making him the first living Marine recipient since the Vietnam War. Meyer was assigned to Embedded Training Team 2-8 advising the Afghan National Army in the eastern provinces bordering Pakistan. He will be awarded for heroic actions in Ganjgal, Afghanistan, Sept. 8, 2009.

Removed from an ambushed platoon of Marines and soldiers in a remote Afghan village on Sept. 8, 2009, his reality viciously shaken by an onslaught of enemy fighters, Cpl. Dakota Meyer simply reacted as he knew best — tackling what he called “extraordinary circumstances” by “doing the right thing … whatever it takes.”

Nearly two years later, the White House announced Aug. 12, 2011, the 23-year-old Marine scout sniper from Columbia, Ky., who has since left the Marine Corps, will become the first living Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor in 38 years. Retired Sgt. Maj. Allan Kellogg, Jr. received the medal in 1973 for gallantry in Vietnam three years earlier.

Meyer is the second Marine to receive the medal for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. Cpl. Jason Dunham was awarded the medal posthumously for covering a grenade with his body to save two Marines in Iraq in 2004. President Barack Obama will present the award to Meyer at the White House, Sept. 15.

“The award honors the men who gave their lives that day, and the men who were in that fight,” Meyer said. “I didn’t do anything more than any other Marine would. I was put in an extraordinary circumstance, and I just did my job.”

Though bleeding from shrapnel wounds in his right arm, Meyer, aided by fellow Marines and Army advisors from Embedded Training Team 2-8, braved a vicious hail of enemy machine-gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire in the village of Ganjgal to help rescue and evacuate more than 15 wounded Afghan soldiers, and recover the bodies of four fallen fighters — 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, Gunnery Sgts. Aaron Kenefick and Edwin Johnson Jr., and Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class James Layton.

ETT advisor Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., Oct. 7, 2009, from wounds sustained in the firefight.

Meyer charged through the battle zone five times to recover the dead Marines and injured Afghan soldiers, risking his life even when a medical evacuation helicopter wouldn’t land because of the blazing gunfire.

“There’s not a day — not a second that goes by where I don’t think about what happened that day,” Meyer said. “I didn’t just lose four Marines that day; I lost four brothers.”

Sgt. Dakota Meyer with a DShK machine gun.

Author Bing West, a retired Marine infantry officer and combat veteran of Vietnam, detailed Meyer’s actions in the battle in “The Wrong War,” and praised Meyer for taking command of the battle as a corporal — the most junior advisor in this firefight.

West said Meyer should have been killed, but he dominated the battlefield by fearlessly exposing himself to danger and pumping rifle and machine gun rounds into the enemy fighters.

“When you leave the perimeter, you don’t know what’s going to happen, regardless of what war you’re fighting in,” Kellogg, who lives in Kailua, Hawaii, said. “Once you get to a point where you make the decision — ‘I’m probably going to die, so let the party begin’ — once you say in your mind you aren’t getting out of there, you fight harder and harder.”

Beginning his career with the same regiment from which Kellogg retired in 1990, Meyer deployed with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2007, and earned a meritorious promotion to corporal in late 2008 after returning from the deployment.

Before leaving for Iraq, Meyer completed the Marine Corps’ 10-week Scout Sniper Basic Course, and committed himself to preparing himself and his snipers for combat. They attended lifesaving classes taught by Navy corpsmen and honed their skills with myriad weapons systems, such as light machine guns. Meyer also spent time in his battalion’s communications section learning how to call for mortar and artillery fire.

“I devoted my whole life to making the best snipers in the Marine Corps,” Meyer said. “They’re a direct reflection of your leadership. If you fail them in training, it could get them killed on the battlefield.”

In February 2009, Meyer volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan’s dangerous Kunar province and mentor Afghan soldiers as part of an embedded training team, the type of role usually filled by U.S. Special Forces.

“A Marine who seeks the challenge of joining his unit’s scout sniper platoon has to have a lot of drive and determination,” said Col. Nathan Nastase, commanding officer of 3rd Marine Regiment and formerly Meyer’s battalion commander at 3/3. “Being assigned to the ETT was a huge vote of confidence in his abilities.”

Meyer deployed to Afghanistan on the ETT in July 2009.

“Our mission was to help prepare the Afghans to take over their own country and provide security for themselves,” Meyer said. “ETTs make a huge impact on the outcome of the war.”

In Kunar province, Meyer and another ETT advisor would lead squads of 15 Afghan soldiers on patrols. Since he could speak Pashto, the local language, so well, Meyer often separated from the element with his Afghan trainees.

When his patrol fought to rescue another from an ambush Sept. 8, 2009, Meyer’s focus on advising gave way to surviving, and on what he had to do to keep himself and his men alive.

“I lost a lot of Afghans that day,” Meyer said. “And I’ll tell you right now — they were just as close to me as those Marines were. At the end of the day, I don’t care if they’re Afghans, Iraqis, Marines or Army; it didn’t matter. They’re in the same shit you are, and they want to go home and see their family just as bad as you do.”

Thrown into unimaginable circumstances, Meyer said the Afghan soldiers and his sniper training “saved my life” during the battle.

Jacody Downey is a close friend of Meyer’s from Kentucky. He’s seen his friend grow from a fun-loving “jokester” in high school to a driven Marine who deeply respected both elders and subordinates.

“Dakota has always cared more about others than he does himself,” Downey said. “Even if he’s not with his Marines now, he’s still constantly thinking about them, worrying about them and calling to check on them. He still considers them brothers.”

Cpl. David Hawkins grew as a Marine under Meyer’s leadership in 3/3’s Scout Sniper Platoon.

“Meyer was an ideal leader,” Hawkins, from Parker, Colo., said. “He knew everything about the Marines underneath him — how they’d respond to every situation, not only on a Marine Corps level but also on a personal level.”

Hawkins said he was deeply humbled by Meyer’s concern as a friend, especially after being injured in Afghanistan last year. Hawkins was severely wounded by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan Sept. 24, 2010. Four days later, he lay static in a stark hospital room, riddled with shrapnel. After groggily emerging from anesthesia into a blurry reality, Hawkins’ phone rang — the first call from a friend. Without fail, Meyer’s jovial drawl broke through the speaker.

“In the Marine Corps, you always hear that if something’s broke, you’ve got to work to fix it, but you never really see the Marine who does it,” Hawkins said. “Meyer is that Marine. If he had something to say, he’d say it, and he wasn’t really afraid of repercussions for what he said. If it needed to be changed, he changed it.”

Hearing his friend would receive the Medal of Honor didn’t surprise Hawkins. In light of the “character” and “country boy” Hawkins knows, Meyer’s actions were simply the manifestation of how he lived and led.

“Meyer was destined for the Medal of Honor,” Hawkins said. “If you got to work with him, you’d see it.”

At the conclusion of his speech to 350 faculty and staff in Green County High School, Greensburg, Ky., Dakota Meyer, 23, watches them as they leave, Aug. 3. Photo by Sgt. James SheaSmall RSS Icon

Meyer completed his tour on active duty last June. He went home to Kentucky, where he’s found purpose working with his hands in a family business.

“Pouring concrete is kind of like the Marine Corps,” Meyer said. “When you wake up in the morning, you’ve got a job … like a mission. There’s no set standard on how to do things, but you just have to go out there, make decisions and get it done — and that’s like the challenge of the Marine Corps. Once you’re satisfied with what you’ve done, you stop getting better.”

Meyer is the 86th living Medal of Honor recipient, and he joins a small, elite group of heroes, a reality that will often require him to conjure up haunting reminders of the battles he has fought, the friends he has lost and the painful regret he bears.

“I’m not a hero, by any means — I’m a Marine, that’s what I am,” he said. “The heroes are the men and women still serving, and the guys who gave their lives for their country. At the end of the day, I went in there to do the right thing … and it all boils down to doing the right thing … whatever it takes. All those things we learn stick in your head, and when you live by it, that’s the Marine way.”

Though Meyer will receive the Medal of Honor for what he did in Ganjgal, he insists he will wear the five-pointed medallion and blue silk ribbon to honor his fallen brothers, their families and his fellow Marines.

“Being a Marine is a way of life,” Meyer said. “It isn’t just a word, and it’s not just about the uniform — it’s about brotherhood. Brotherhood means that when you turn around, they’re there, through thick and thin. If you can’t take care of your brothers, what can you do in life?”

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Story by Cpl. Reece Lodder

Lance Cpl. Derek Hopkins, a mortarman with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, carries a mortar tube while walking through a flooded field during a patrol, Aug. 3. Marines with Company K carry their mortar systems on patrols for support during firefights. Photo by Cpl. Ned Johnson

When the Marines of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, set out on patrol, Aug. 3, a simple civil affairs mission turned into an on-going firefight.

The task was to provide security during transport of a civil affairs team to talk to the locals about how Marines could help them, said Staff Sgt. Jesus Suarez, a platoon sergeant with Company K, 3rd Bn., 7th Marines.

Just a few minutes after the locals said there village had not seen fighting in a year, insurgents attacked with small arms and machine gun fire.

“We had a main effort push into the village and start conducting key leader engagements,” Suarez said. “That was when we got attacked by enemy forces.”

The Marines immediately found protection for nearby villagers and returned fire.

“The [insurgent] element was probably a squad size element,” said Derek Hopkins, a mortarman with Company K, 3rd Bn., 7th Marines.

After fighting continued for several minutes, Marines used fire superiority and movement to gain advantage over the enemy. Once the firing stopped, the Marines continued on the mission.

Although the mission was complete, the conflict was not over.

“As we were headed back, we continued to take contact,” said Suarez, a 34-year-old native of Corpus Christi, Texas.

This time, the snipers attached to Company K took control of the battle and helped defeat the enemy. The effective fire of the snipers immediately neutralized two of the enemy combatants.

The mission was designed to establish relationships with the villagers. Even though the village swarmed with civilians, insurgents attacked anyway.

“I think they are becoming desperate,” Suarez said. “They see the success we are having and they don’t want it to spread into other areas.”

“They are causing whatever violence they can to keep the local population from working with us,” Suarez continued.

The violence, however, will not prevent the Marines from continuing to help the locals, and Hopkins said they will continue to do security patrols throughout the Northern Green Zone and search for more avenues to help the locals via civil affairs projects.

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Story by Cpl. Ned Johnson

Maj. Sean M. Sadlier (left) of the U.S. Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Office explains the solar power element of the Expeditionary Forward Operating Base concept to Col. Anthony Fernandez during the testing phase of this sustainable energy initiative here, May 19. The ExFOB is designed primarily for use by small Marine Corps units at forward operating bases in Afghanistan. Fernandez, a Marine Corps Reservist with a combined 28 years in the Corps, is the African Lion 2010 task force commander here.

Marines here at exercise African Lion are currently testing a new environmentally-friendly energy system which will enable deployed troops to purify water, light their tents and power their equipment through solar energy and leverage technology.

“Basically, you can take water from any source, even waste water, put in it in the SLMCO (water purifier), shoot it through the reverse osmosis process and put it right in your Camelback and drink it,” said Capt. Adorjan Ferenczy, the engineer analyst for the Expeditionary Forward Operating Base program, or ExFOB.

Ferenczy explained that the system can also provide LED lights for a medium-sized general purpose tent and power outlets for small electrical items.

A mechanical engineer by trade, Ferenczy, 31, came into the Marine Corps in 2005 after working for a major vehicle manufacturer in his home town of Detroit for several years.

According to Ferenczy, the Commandant of the Marine Corps directed the Marine Corps Energy Assessment Team to go to Afghanistan in September 2009 to conduct an assessment of the energy used by deployed Marine units and report back with findings.

“The Commandant has said, ‘Let’s not only lighten the load, but let’s reduce risk to Marines downrange by reducing our reliance,” said Brig. Gen. Robert Hedelund, the commanding general of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab and vice chief of Naval Research in a March 2010 interview.

If implemented, the ExFOB concept will significantly reduce troops’ reliance on drinking water and generator fuel, which are transported from larger bases in Afghanistan to troops operating at remote sites by truck convoy.

These convoys are frequent targets for insurgents, so the premise is simple: reducing the number of convoys through the use of alternate energy sources for troops’ daily sustenance will directly reduce the number of U.S. casualties in overseas contingency operations.

This need to find sustainable energy solutions has been echoed by leaders throughout the U.S. Department of Defense, and all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces are currently evaluating alternate energy capabilities.

“The Marine Corps has taken the lead on exploring the use of these energy sources for tactical, small-unit use,” said Maj. Sean M. Sadlier, a logistics analyst with the U.S. Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Office.

Sadlier, a logistics officer with 15 years in the Corps, came here with his team in mid-May to test the ExFOB equipment in the harsh climate of southern Morocco.

The ExFOB team here is comprised of Marine Corps officers, staff non-commissioned officers, government service employees and contractors from Marine Corps Systems Command, the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, Marine Corps Installations and Logistics office, Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Office and the Marine Corps Power Surety Task Force.

Here in southern Morocco, the ExFOB team of experts is conducting a week-long assessment of their prospective piece of gear.

The test is being done in conjunction with about a thousand troops participating in African Lion 2010, a month-long theater security cooperation exercise led by Marine Forces Africa, with the preponderance of troops coming from Marine Forces Reserve units across the United States.

When the ExFOB team returns to their respective offices in Northern Virginia later this month, they will make their recommendations to the Executive Integrated Processing Team, which consists of high-ranking Marine Corps general officers and senior U.S. government service employees.

“If they determine that the juice is worth the squeeze, they approve the project and the concept becomes a reality,” said Ferenczy.

The ExFOB is currently in the extended user-evaluation phase. At this year’s African Lion, troops from Marine Wing Support Squadron 273, based out of Beaufort, S.C., assisted the ExFOB team in assembling and evaluating their system on a Spartan logistics support area.

It took 16 Marines three hours to assemble the unit, which the ExFOB team is actually using for billeting during their stay here.

“They did a fine job considering they hadn’t seen the ExFOB before they took it out of the box,” said Gunnery Sgt. Michael Polson, the MWSS-273 Utilities Platoon staff non-commissioned officer-in-charge.

The LSA where the Marines erected the ExFOB resembles a large, unpaved parking lot, and is about 800 meters by 400 meters.

The Marines and U.S. civilians living there are covered daily in the ubiquitous dirt and grit which the wind blows up from the surface that the Marines graded, leveled and compacted with heavy equipment shipped over from the States.

The Marines of MWSS-273 and their Navy SEABEE counterparts have lived, worked and sweated together for several weeks now, developing the logistics support area.

In this unique landscape, the Cap Draa Desert runs straight into the Atlantic Ocean. The climate is therefore ideal for testing the ExFOB, as the system is subject to the sand, dust and wide flux of temperatures that are found in the desert, as well as the strong winds that blow in from the Atlantic.

Additionally, the severe overcast weather May 18 to 20 challenged the solar-powered generation system, which is the main power source for the system.

“I think it’s doing really well,” said Sadlier. “Our plan is to start out small and increase the power load to see how it performs. So far, it’s holding up pretty well and producing more energy than is being used.”

The product will go through a second phase of testing this summer at Enhanced Mojave Viper in Twentynine Palms, Calif., with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.

Sadlier said that the entire end-user evaluation, decision-making, and procurement process is expected to take about a year from this point.

If the ExFOB system is procured and fielded in 2011, small units in Afghanistan can mount the SLMCO water purifier unit to their vehicles, drive out to a water source such as a river or stream on a security patrol, purify a hundred gallons of water and bring it back to base.

They can also use the system on their remote positions to have a well-lit, medium-sized, weatherproof tent with electric outlets to power their computers, tactical radios, electric razors, IPODs and other small electronics items.

Sadlier added that the ExFOB will also be more tactically sound than traditional generators, as the solar panels silently transform sunlight to electricity, whereas traditional generators are noisy and can give away the position of a command operations center on an expeditionary base.

So in the end, the ExFOB is intended to not only cut down on consumption of fossil fuels and help protect the environment, it will also make overseas contingency operations safer for Marines; and a little more comfortable.

“This stuff isn’t new; it’s already being used by humanitarian relief agencies in austere environments. It’s just new to the Marine Corps,” said Sadlier. “The Commandant wants to focus on [Marine Corps] companies and platoons using this equipment at combat outposts and forward operating bases. We need to make sure that it works; and that it works in the kind of environment where our Marines are going to operate.”

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Cpl. Jason Jones earned the Silver Star Medal for his actions during a firefight in which he went above and beyond the call of duty while attached to Embedded Training Team 5-3 in Afghanistan. Photo by Lance Cpl. Paul Zellner

The day started like any other day in eastern Afghanistan, moderate temperature, sunny; hardly a cloud in the sky.

But for three Marines, a platoon of Afghan national soldiers and a platoon of Soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne, July 13 would turn to bloodshed, sacrifice and one Marine’s tale of heroism.

The U.S. – Afghan team was attacked by more than 200 enemy forces firing small-arms and rocket-propelled grenades.

Many members of the team became disorganized and discouraged facing the overwhelming odds.

Cpl. Jason Jones, one of three Marines embedded with the two platoons of soldiers, seized the initiative and began firing his weapon at the enemy while encouraging and guiding his comrades to organize a counter attack.

Jones’ actions grew bolder as casualties mounted and the firefight intensified.

He sprinted across the terrain under heavy enemy fire to a wounded Afghan soldier and pulled him to safety as rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire exploded around them. But the fight was not over. Members of the U.S. Army platoon were pinned down.

“We got a call on the radio saying ‘we’re dying, we’re dying and I’m the last one left,’” said Jones, the 24 year-old native of San Angelo, Texas. “I figured we needed to do something about it.”

With bullets still flying, Jones again crossed 130 meters of fire-swept ground wielding a M-240B machine gun. Jones, with fire support from other members of the team, suppressed the attackers long enough to allow him to reach the wounded soldiers and provide life-saving aid.

For his valor, heroism and bravery under fire, Jones was awarded the Silver Star, the third highest decoration a U.S. service member can receive.

Jones is a four-year veteran of the Marine Corps. He graduated from Grape Creek High School, class of 2003, in San Angelo. He works in the logistics field with Headquarters and Service Company, 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.

However, while in Afghanistan, Jones was serving a 10-month auxiliary billet as a mentor to the Afghan National Army while attached to Embedded Training Team 5-3.

According to Jones, he developed a bond with his Afghan and U.S. Army counterparts – a bond that was tested under fire and survived through resolve.

“Whether it’s a Marine, Sailor or Soldier, you can only hear suffering for so long before you have to do something about it,” said Jones.

Cpl. Jason Jones is pictured July 13 in the Kunar province of eastern Afghanistan just hours after a firefight where he earned the Silver Star.

Jones said he took it upon himself to do exactly what Marines are taught – lead from the front.

It is easy to say Jones’ actions saved lives that day, but they may have had another lasting effect.

“His actions built confidence and motivation in the Afghan national army,” said Sgt. Maj. Samuel Schmidt the sergeant major of 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. “He was essentially a catalyst in changing the tide of the battle.”

Though his actions are looked at as heroic by some, Jones was a bit more humble in describing his actions following an awards ceremony on Camp Schwab on April 2 where Lt. Gen. Richard C. Zilmer, III Marine Expeditionary Force commanding general, pinned on his Silver Star.

“We were just taking care of business,” Jones said. “A firefight that big opens your eyes to what war is really like. I wouldn’t call myself a hero. The real heroes are the ones that gave their [lives] – and I’m wearing this medal for them.”

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Story by Lance Cpl. Paul Zellner

For additional information about the actions of these extraordinary Marines:
Marines Stop Enemy Attack – Heroic Last Stand

Marines Duty Valor

Marines render honors while the national anthem is played during a Navy Cross ceremony in honor of two fallen Camp Lejeune Marines, Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, from Sag Harbor, N.Y., and Cpl. Jonathan Yale, from Burkeville, Va. Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Dr. Donald C. Winter, presented the awards at a ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Haerter and Yale posthumously received the Navy Cross for actions in April 2008. They are credited with saving the lives of many Marines and Iraqi police.

Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Dr. Donald C. Winter, presents Joann Lyles, mother of Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, the Navy Cross, at a ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Haerter, from Sag Harbor, N.Y., and Cpl. Jonathan Yale, from Burkeville, Va., both were posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for their heroic actions in Iraq in April 2008.

Marines stand at parade rest during a Navy Cross ceremony in honor of two fallen Camp Lejeune Marines, Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, from Sag Harbor, N.Y., and Cpl. Jonathan Yale, from Burkeville, Va., Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Dr. Donald C. Winter, presented the awards at a ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

Photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kevin O’Brien