Dakota Meyer, a Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism within the Afghanistan Battle however later grew to become a pointy critic of the Biden administration over its chaotic withdrawal from that battle, is reenlisting within the navy and can serve within the Marine Reserves.
In a briefing with reporters on Thursday earlier than his reenlistment ceremony, 36-year-old Meyer mentioned he’s returning to navy service after 15 years out of uniform as a result of he felt he “had more to give.” He’s additionally near President Trump’s protection secretary, Pete Hegseth.
However Meyer mentioned he would chorus from politics whereas in uniform.
“The great part about being in the reserves is I’m still a citizen when I’m not on orders,” he mentioned. “When I’m on orders I’ll comply obviously with whatever the standard is.”
In short remarks in the course of the ceremony, Hegseth mentioned Meyer’s reenlistment is “not common practice” and the Marine Corps “doesn’t do things like this lightly,” however praised Meyer’s “uncommon valor.” Hegseth mentioned the reenlistment exhibits “you’re never too old, you’re never too experienced, you’ve never done too much that you can’t continue to contribute.”
Initially from Kentucky, Meyer was awarded the Medal of Honor, the navy’s highest honor, by then-President Barack Obama in 2011 for his heroics in Afghanistan when he charged 5 instances in a Humvee into heavy gunfire to rescue comrades below assault by Taliban insurgents.
President Obama awards the Medal of Honor to former Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer, 23, from Greensburg, Ky, on Sept. 15, 2011, throughout a ceremony on the White Home.
Charles Dharapak / AP
On Sept. 8, 2009, Meyer was a part of a safety group supporting a patrol shifting right into a village within the Ganjgal Valley. All of a sudden, the lights in a close-by village went out and gunfire erupted. About 50 Taliban insurgents on mountainsides and within the village had ambushed the patrol.
His actions in the course of the six-hour assault and firefight saved the lives of 36 folks, each Individuals and Afghans. He killed not less than eight Taliban insurgents. Firing from a gun turret on prime of a Humvee pushed by a fellow Marine, he offered cowl for his group, permitting many to flee doubtless demise.
4 American troopers died within the ambush: 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, 25, from Virginia Seashore, Virginia; Employees Sgt. Aaron Kenefick, 30, of Roswell, Georgia; Corpsman James Layton, 22, of Riverbank, California; and Edwin Wayne Johnson Jr., a 31-year-old gunnery sergeant from Columbus, Georgia. A fifth man, Military Sgt. Kenneth W. Westbrook, 41, of Shiprock, New Mexico, died later from his wounds.
After leaving the navy, Meyer remained within the highlight. In 2016 he married former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, and so they had two kids. Years later, in 2019, he instructed “60 Minutes” about his expertise with a new post-traumatic stress dysfunction remedy.
He’s been outspoken concerning the jailing of one other Marine — Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller — who criticized the Biden administration for the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan in social media posts whereas in uniform, which is a violation of navy conduct.
Extra from CBS Information
