Dakota Meyer Dakota L . Meyer ( born June 26 , 1988 ) is a veteran United States Marine and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan . He is best known for being awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Ganjgal on September 8 , 2009 , in Kunar Province , Afghanistan . Meyer is the youngest living Medal of Honor recipient , the third living recipient of the Medal of Honor for either Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan , and the first living U . S . Marine in 38 years to be so honored . Biography . Meyer was born on June 26 , 1988 and grew up in Columbia , Kentucky . In 2006 , after graduation from Green County High School , he enlisted in the U . S . Marine Corps at a recruiting station in Louisville , Kentucky and was sent for recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island . Military service . After completing training to be a U . S . Marine , Meyer deployed to Fallujah , Iraq , in 2007 as a Scout Sniper with 3rd Battalion , 3rd Marines . He gained national attention for his actions in Afghanistan during his second deployment in Kunar Province with Embedded Training Team 2 - 8 . On September 8 , 2009 , near the village of Ganjgal , Meyer learned that three U . S . Marines and a U . S . Navy corpsman were missing after being ambushed by a group of insurgents . He charged into an area known to be inhabited by insurgents and under enemy fire . Meyer eventually found all four dead and stripped of their weapons , body armor , and radios . With the help of some friendly Afghan soldiers , he moved the bodies to a safer area where they could be extracted . During his search , Meyer " personally evacuated 12 friendly wounded , and provided cover for another 24 Marines and soldiers to escape likely death at the hands of a numerically superior and determined foe . " On November 6 , 2010 , the Commandant of the Marine Corps , General James Amos , told reporters during a visit to Camp Pendleton , California , that a living U . S . Marine had been nominated for the Medal of Honor . Two days later , " Marine Corps Times " , an independent newspaper covering U . S . Marine operations , reported that the unnamed individual was Meyer , citing anonymous sources . CNN confirmed the story independently two days later . On June 9 , 2011 , the U . S . Marine Corps announced that two other U . S . Marines on Meyer ' s team in Ganjgal would receive the Navy Cross , the second - highest award for valor a Marine can receive . Capt . Ademola D . Fabayo and Staff Sgt . Juan J . Rodriguez - Chavez were recognized for their roles in retrieving the Marines and corpsman . Before Meyer went looking for the missing men on foot , Rodriguez - Chavez drove a gun truck into the kill zone , with Fabayo manning its machine gun . When U . S . President Barack Obama ' s staff called Meyer to set up a time for the President to inform him that his case for the Medal of Honor had been approved , Meyer was working at his construction job and asked if they could please call him back when he was on his lunch break , which they later did . Dakota then returned to work . Meyer was awarded the Medal of Honor in a ceremony on September 15 , 2011 . When a White House staffer contacted Meyer to arrange the ceremony , Meyer asked if he could have a beer with the President . He received an invitation to the White House the afternoon before the ceremony . Meyer also requested that when he was honored , simultaneous commemorative services should be held at other associated locations to honor the memory of his colleagues who died or were mortally wounded during the ambush and his rescue attempts . Four Americans died in the ambush : 1st Lt . Michael Johnson , a 25 - year - old from Virginia Beach ; Staff Sgt . Aaron Kenefick , 30 , of Roswell , Ga . ; Hospital Corpsman Third Class James R . Layton , 22 , of Riverbank , Calif . ; and Edwin Wayne Johnson Jr . , a 31 - year - old Gunnery Sergeant from Columbus , Ga . A fifth man , Army Sgt . 1st Class Kenneth W . Westbrook , 41 , of Shiprock , N . M . , later died from his wounds . Civilian . A year after the Battle of Ganjgal , after drinking alcohol Meyer attempted to commit suicide , however the Glock that was in the glove compartment of his truck was unloaded ; afterward he sought help for post - traumatic stress disorder . In September 2011 , Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear bestowed upon Meyer the title of Kentucky Colonel during an event in his home town of Greensburg where he served as the event ' s grand marshal . Dakota Meyer has filed a lawsuit against his former employer , defense contractor BAE Systems , alleging the company and his supervisor there punished him for his opposition to a weapons sale to Pakistan . Meyer is suing defense contractor BAE Systems OASYS Inc . that he says ridiculed his Medal of Honor , called him mentally unstable and suggested he had a drinking problem , thereby costing him a job . On December 15 , 2011 BAE announced that Meyer and BAE Systems OASYS resolved their dispute out of court . On December 14 , 2011 , McClatchy news outlets published an article which questioned the actual number of lives Meyer saved , while acknowledging his heroism . The article stated that " crucial parts that the Marine Corps publicized were untrue , unsubstantiated or exaggerated " . However , all that was " unnecessary " because Meyer " by all accounts deserved his nomination . " Meyer has released a book about the Battle of Ganjgal , co - written with Bing West , titled " Into the Fire : A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War , " published on September 25 , 2012 . In the book he makes a case for Army Captain William D . Swenson to be awarded the Medal of Honor ; Swenson had criticized Army officers at the nearby Forward Operating Base Joyce for not providing fire support , the resulting political fallout not conducive to awarding him the medal . Those same officers were later cited following a military investigation for " negligent " leadership leading " directly to the loss of life " on the battlefield . Swenson , in fact , was awarded the medal on October 15 , 2013 . On December 13 , 2012 , Meyer was assaulted while attending a party at Lindsey Wilson College . He received a few staples in the head and had to be treated in the hospital . An 18 year old college student was arrested as a result of the incident . Honors and awards . Military awards . Medal of Honor citation . " The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to CORPORAL DAKOTA L . MEYER UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS For service as set forth in the following " For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Marine Embedded Training Team 2 - 8 , Regional Corps Advisory Command 3 - 7 , in Kunar Province , Afghanistan , on 8 September 2009 . Corporal Meyer maintained security at a patrol rally point while other members of his team moved on foot with two platoons of Afghan National Army and Border Police into the village of Ganjgal for a pre - dawn meeting with village elders . Moving into the village , the patrol was ambushed by more than 50 enemy fighters firing rocket propelled grenades , mortars , and machine guns from houses and fortified positions on the slopes above . Hearing over the radio that four U . S . team members were cut off , Corporal Meyer seized the initiative . With a fellow Marine driving , Corporal Meyer took the exposed gunner ' s position in a gun - truck as they drove down the steeply terraced terrain in a daring attempt to disrupt the enemy attack and locate the trapped U . S . team . Disregarding intense enemy fire now concentrated on their lone vehicle , Corporal Meyer killed a number of enemy fighters with the mounted machine guns and his rifle , some at near point blank range , as he and his driver made three solo trips into the ambush area . During the first two trips , he and his driver evacuated two dozen Afghan soldiers , many of whom were wounded . When one machine gun became inoperable , he directed a return to the rally point to switch to another gun - truck for a third trip into the ambush area where his accurate fire directly supported the remaining U . S . personnel and Afghan soldiers fighting their way out of the ambush . Despite a shrapnel wound to his arm , Corporal Meyer made two more trips into the ambush area in a third gun - truck accompanied by four other Afghan vehicles to recover more wounded Afghan soldiers and search for the missing U . S . team members . Still under heavy enemy fire , he dismounted the vehicle on the fifth trip and moved on foot to locate and recover the bodies of his team members . Corporal Meyer ' s daring initiative and bold fighting spirit throughout the 6 - hour battle significantly disrupted the enemy ' s attack and inspired the members of the combined force to fight on . His unwavering courage and steadfast devotion to his U . S . and Afghan comrades in the face of almost certain death reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service . "