Medal of Honor: Dakota L. Meyer, War in Afghanistan, September 8, 2009

A Lone Gun-Truck Against an Army

In the steep valleys of Afghanistan, a young Marine defied overwhelming odds. Sergeant Dakota Meyer refused to leave his comrades behind, charging again and again into a storm of enemy fire to rescue the living and recover the fallen.

Name: Dakota L. Meyer
War: War in Afghanistan
Date of Action: September 8, 2009

Summary of Action

On the morning of September 8, 2009, in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, a coalition patrol of Afghan soldiers and U.S. advisors entered the village of Ganjgal. It was supposed to be a meeting with village elders. Instead, more than 50 entrenched Taliban fighters sprang an ambush, unleashing rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and machine gun fire from the ridgelines above.

At the rally point outside the village, Cpl. Dakota Meyer, a Marine serving with Embedded Training Team 2-8, heard the chaos over his radio. Four Americans were cut off. Afghan soldiers were wounded and trapped. Without orders and with no guarantee of survival, Meyer mounted a gun-truck, took the exposed gunner’s position, and drove straight into the kill zone.

What followed was six hours of relentless courage. Three times he plunged into the valley alone, blasting with mounted machine guns and his own rifle at fighters so close he could see their eyes. Twice, he evacuated two dozen Afghan soldiers, many bleeding and broken, to safety. When one gun-truck was shot to pieces, he commandeered another and drove back into the fire. Wounded by shrapnel, Meyer pressed on.

On his fifth trip, he did what no warrior should ever have to do: dismounting under fire, he searched for his missing brothers. He found them—all four American team members—slain in the ambush. With tears, fury, and unrelenting resolve, he recovered their bodies so they would not be left behind.

By the end of the battle, Meyer’s ferocious counterattacks had shattered the Taliban’s assault, evacuated the wounded, and ensured that his fallen comrades came home.

Medal of Honor Citation

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.