Marine honored in South Carolina

[deziloooooo]

A friend sent me this post, her son Tony is a full COL in the air force, Special operations, started with B'52's and went to choppers, special operations, then now a wing commander, and he keeps her up to date on Military going on's.
I am sorry that the picture of this young Marine will not show, it is from a e mail but thought you who are interested, might like to read his story.
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Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, gets support from his fiance Jordan Gleaton, in the state senate chambers, where Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, presented a proclamation honoring Marine Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter

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Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, flanked by his parents, Robert and Robin Carpenter of Gilbert, recounts his experience of being injured in a combat zone in Afghanistan during a press conference Wednesday at the statehouse.
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Jordan Gleaton helps her fiance, Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter with a sip of water after a press conference

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Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, flanked by his parents, Robert and Robin Carpenter of Gilbert, laughs during a press conference


Heroic Marine honored

Marine Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter, his face missing an eye and crisscrossed with deep scars, stood on the floor of the S.C. Senate on Wednesday to receive the thanks of his state.
Carpenter, 21, of Gilbert lost the eye, most of his teeth and use of his right arm from a grenade blast Nov. 21 near Marjah, Helmand Province , Afghanistan .
Friends and family say he threw himself in front of the grenade to protect his best friend in Afghanistan , Cpl. Nick Eufrazio.
Carpenter just remembers seeing the grenade. Then a white flash. Then a fellow Marine telling him he would be fine.
Then, four weeks later, he woke up in a hospital in Germany ..
The second I woke up, I saw my family by my bedside, he said.
The Senate resolution noted Carpenter suffered catastrophic wounds in the cause of freedom and has shown himself worthy of the name Marine.
Carpenter shook almost every senators hand with his left hand after the reading.
He said his experience was nothing unusual in war. People back home, worried about the economy and gas prices, he said, should remember Marines and soldiers are still being maimed and killed.
The light is on me right now, he said. But Im hoping what happened to me will help remind people that things like this happen every day and people dont see it. Im proud of what my fellow Marines have done there and are doing there now.
Helmand Province is one of the most dangerous places in the world.
Carpenter and a 12-man squad from his 9th Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, were on patrol outside Marjah. They were in the fifth month of a seven-month deployment.
They were in a village they called Shadier, between two other villages they named Shady and Shadiest.
They had been in hard combat, he said, as the Marines were pushing out farther from their base, expanding the territory they controlled.
For two days we had been hit pretty hard, he said. We moved into (enemy) territory, and they didnt like it.
He was fighting on a rooftop when the grenade hit.
I took 99 percent of the blast, he said. But one little piece of shrapnel got by me and went into (Eufrazios) brain.
According to Sen. Jake Knotts, who sponsored and read the proclamation, Eufrazio suffered a serious brain injury and is recovering in Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland . He is now speaking and talking.
Carpenter also spent most of his recovery time which so far has included 25 surgeries and more than 100 hours of physical therapy at Bethesda .
There, he said, he was inspired by the other patients, many of whom had no legs or no eyes or no arms.
Im lucky, he said.
Knotts said that Carpenter has been nominated for the Medal of Honor, adding, And I think this kid deserves it.
But Carpenter said that people saying they are proud of me is enough.
That doesnt surprise his 20-year-old fiancee, Jordan Gleaton.
I havent heard him complain one time, Gleaton said. I would be a mess.
Its been a tough three months, she added. I dont feel like Im 20 anymore.
Carpenters parents, Robert and Robin Carpenter of Gilbert, say they are proud of the way their son has handled his horrific injuries.
They call him our miracle.

[Sammy]

Wow, that hurts to read.

I just looked up at my kitchen television to see a piece on a Mass. soldier killed last week. He graduated from HS in 2007 and it was his HS graduation photo that was on the screen. Such a cute kid.

Both stories are heart breakers. Damn war.

[deziloooooo]

Jun 14, 2011 22:25:45 GMT -5 Sammy said:

Wow, that hurts to read.

I just looked up at my kitchen television to see a piece on a Mass. soldier killed last week. He graduated from HS in 2007 and it was his HS graduation photo that was on the screen. Such a cute kid.

Both stories are heart breakers. Damn war.

Agree Sam, Connecticut lost two kids this week..both in Afganistan..so young...it hurts deeply.