Don't Call Me a Hero
	
A patrol of nine Americans - both Marines and Army soldiers - and 45 Afghan military set out for a friendly meeting with village elders in the Ganjgal Valley of Afghanistan when rocky terrain forced them to exit their armored vehicles and move in on foot. At daylight on September 8, 2009, Taliban forces ambushed the patrol with mortars, rockets, RPGs and small arms fire.

With more than 100 enemy fighters dug in on high ground, Marines called for artillery fire from a nearby base.  When the first rounds missed, a Marine trapped inside the village radioed new coordinates. Commanders at the base refused to fire; it was too close to the village. 

As dead and wounded Afghan soldiers lay scattered along the valley floor, Marine Cpl. Dakota L. Meyer, a twenty-one year old Kentucky farm boy, ran out to assist them. In what was described as "almost insane bravery", he and a fellow Marine drove the dead and wounded out of the valley. With enemy fire whizzing around them, they tried repeatedly to reach the four Marines trapped in the village. In the end, the day-long battle took the lives of all four Marines and eight Afghan soldiers. 

For exceptional bravery in repeatedly running a gauntlet of enemy fire in a desperate attempt to save his fellow Marines, Meyer received the Medal of Honor. After receiving the nation's highest award from President Obama in September 2011, Meyer told reporters, "At the end of the day, we did our job; we were still fighting."








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