1st Dakota Meyer got MoH, 2nd Cpt Swenson (amended title)

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Dakota Meyer, who left active duty in June 2010, will be the first living Marine in 41 years to receive the nation's highest award for valor. He braved enemy fire in Afghanistan in a bid to find and retrieve three missing Marines and a Navy corpsman.

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http://news.yahoo.com/marine-receive...202055591.html

See also

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/0...edal-of-honor/

and
http://militarytimes.com/blogs/battl...honor-nominee/

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the visit to Ganjigal by then Corporal Meyer’s embedded training team and members of the Afghan army was supposed to be a peaceful mission to talk to the village elders. However, it proved to be an ambush, with Taliban fighters hiding throughout the village immediately opening fire on the group as they approached the village.
While Meyer and an officer, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, remained with their Humvees, other members of Meyer’s team entered the ravine and were immediately attacked by the Taliban, and radio contact with team was lost.
After learning that the team was trapped and others could not go to try and rescue them due to the heavy fire, Meyer and Chavez made repeated trips into the firefight. With Chavez driving and Meyer manning the machine gun, they rescued several wounded Afghan soldiers and taking out a number of Taliban fighters.
Finally, on their fifth solo trip into the ravine, they were able to locate the missing members of Meyer’s team when a helicopter pilot saw them and dropped a smoke grenade near their location. However, the team had been ambushed and all were dead.
Meyer, who had been wounded by shrapnel on one of the previous trips into the ravine, made four trips through a hail of gunfire to bring out his fallen comrades: Gunnery Sgt. Edwin Johnson, Staff Sgt. Aaron Kenefick, 1st Lt. Michael Johnson and Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class James Layton. After recovering the bodies of his teammates Meyer escorted them to Forward Operating Base Joyce located about a mile away.

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http://www.adairprogress.com/v2/cont...&MemberID=1945

Moderator's Note

The thread was called 'Dakota Meyer, USMC (Ret'd), to receive MoH' until 13th October 2013, as Captain Swenson is due to get a MoH for the same action (ends).

Just read his story in Bing West's The Wrong War yesterday. The book's worth picking up for that alone.

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Originally Posted by Granite_State

Just read his story in Bing West's The Wrong War yesterday. The book's worth picking up for that alone.

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I agree 100%

Thanks for the info.

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President Barack Obama will bestow the medal at a White House ceremony. The two have also met privately, having a beer on a patio outside the Oval Office on Wednesday.

"Over the weekend, the President's staff called Meyer in preparation for Thursday's Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House. Meyer asked the staffer if he could have a beer with the President. POTUS invited Dakota to come by the White House this afternoon," spokesman Jay Carney tweeted.

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...HOME&TEMPLATE=

Another excellent writeup here
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news...e_moh_080110w/

But Sgt Meyer was with a US Army Captain by the name of William Swenson at the time of the TIC.

Swenson has not received any award for the action. No medal. Nothing.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news...istan-091311w/

If this has already been posted somewhere then please feel free to delete.

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Originally Posted by Vojnik

If this has already been posted somewhere then please feel free to delete.

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Good catch, just read that yesterday myself.

Salient points :

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On Thursday, Meyer is expected to receive the Medal of Honor during a White House ceremony. He will become the first living Marine in 38 years to receive the nation’s highest combat award, and at least the ninth member of Marine Embedded Training Team 2-8 to receive at least a Bronze Star with ‘V’ device for heroism in Ganjgal. Two other Marines — Capt. Ademola Fabayo and Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez — each received a Navy Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor.
Swenson has received nothing. The lack of recognition raises questions whether Swenson’s angry criticism of Army officers, who repeatedly refused to send fire support that day, is the reason he has not been decorated.
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Swenson, who left the Army in February, could not be reached for comment. During an investigation into what went wrong in Ganjgal, he blasted officers who failed to send the fire support he repeatedly requested on the battlefield, according to interview transcripts.
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Swenson left active-duty service in February, Costello said. Charlene Westbrook said she remains in contact with her husband’s former commander. He lives a private life in Washington state, and is still disenchanted with the Army, she said.

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From WaPo three passages:

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Four years after he survived a brutal firefight in a remote Afghanistan valley that claimed the lives of five Americans, retired U.S. Army Capt. William Swenson will be hailed as a hero at the White House on Tuesday.

After returning from the battlefield, Swenson engaged in a lengthy and bitter dispute with the military over the narrative of one of the Afghan war’s most notorious firefights.

The questions he raised resulted in reprimands for two other officers and what he and others say was an effort by the Army to discredit him. His account also cast doubt on the exploits of another Medal of Honor recipient from the same battle, Dakota Meyer of the Marine Corps.

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Link:http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...153_story.html

Well hurray. Big Army does the right thing. Years late and kicking and screaming the whole way but they finally did the right thing.