THE MARINE WHO THREW HIMSELF ON A GRENADE

On November 21, 2010, LCpl Kyle Carpenter was manning a security post in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, during Operation Enduring Freedom.

His platoon of Marines and Afghan army soldiers held a patrol base there to disrupt enemy activity and keep the local population safe.

He and another Marine were manning the post on the roof of the base when enemy forces attacked in broad daylight and threw hand grenades. One of the grenades rolled into the sandbagged position the Marines were holding. Carpenter saw it and put his comrade’s life above his own. With no regard for himself, he threw himself onto the charge, absorbed the blast with his own body and saved the other Marine’s life.

The explosion shattered Carpenter’s right arm and cost him his right eye and most of his teeth. Both eardrums were torn out and had to be surgically rebuilt. His lungs had collapsed, and he was told later that his lower jaw was found down at shoulder level.

His comrades, alerted by the blast, pulled him straight off the roof. Several combat medics, first responders and soldiers with no medical training fought for his life while the firefight went on around them. A MedEvac helicopter with PJs on board happened to be nearby and was asked whether it still had room for a wounded man. Minutes later the Black Hawk set down in the middle of that hell and got Carpenter out.

After he was flown out of Afghanistan, doctors in Germany kept fighting for his survival, and in the end they won. He went through dozens of operations over three years, and even then not every fragment could be taken out of his brain. They will stay there for the rest of his life.

For his selfless action, Carpenter received the Medal of Honor on June 19, 2014.

A brotherhood nobody else understands.

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