Small Wars Journal

Medal of Honor Recipient Recalls Deadly Ambush

Sun, 09/18/2011 - 10:35pm

Medal of Honor Recipient Recalls Deadly Ambush - CBS 60 Minutes - Read the Story - Watch the Segment.

"I have never seen the like."

That is what a helicopter pilot who had watched a 21-year-old Marine stave off a Taliban ambush that threatened to overrun his unit told "60 Minutes."

The Marine was Dakota Meyer a Kentucky farm boy who just this past Thursday received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award, from President Obama at the White House. Meyer was on a mission in the Ganjgal Valley of Afghanistan, where he repeatedly ran a gauntlet of enemy fire in a desperate effort to save his fellow Marines.

 

Comments

Bill M.

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 12:08pm

I watched Dakota Meyer on 60 minutes last night in hopes of getting a greater appreciation for the overall context of that mission, and I wasn't disappointed. The heroism Dakota demonstrated that day is without equal, and I can't recall a situation where greater herosim was ever demonstrated. It is important to point out that there is another MOH pending for that same battle, and I believe at least two Navy Crosses were awarded for that same operation, so heroism wasn't in short supply.

Unfortunately, also not in short supply was incompetence and indifference at the staff level. The TOC that was supposed to be directing fire support simply ignored their repeated calls for fire support and told them to do the best that they could. Subsequently, military officers who conducted the investigation afterwards believed there was a good chance that we wouldn't have lost any Marines that day if the requested fire support was provided when asked for.

We all owe Dakota and many of his unit members a salute (representing respect) and a sincere thank you.

As for the idiots in the TOC, a LOR doesn't seem like justice, but perhaps that is the best we can do. Being incompetent isn't illegal, its just highly undesirable.