Thursday, March 10, 2011

Marine Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter, hero Marine honored

Thursday, Mar. 10, 2011
Heroic Marine honored
Gilbert man severely injured in Afghanistan
By JEFF WILKINSON - jwilkinson@thestate.com

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 the injured serviceman.
Tracy Glantz
tglantz@thestate.com


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.


Read more: Heroic Marine honored

11 comments:

  1. Would like to be able to send Marine Carpenter a card. Is there an email address or another that I can use.

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  2. I can only suggest you contact the report. The email is below his picture

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  3. During and after World War II those GIs who smothered a grenade to save their buddies - giving or willing to give the ultimate sacrifice way beyond the call of duty - were recommended for the Medal of Honor.

    Sometime during Vietnam a quota system was established. "We can only give out so many types of medals ..." Which is political BS. Unfortunately it is still going on today.

    LCPL William Kyle Carpenter should be considered for and in my opinion given the Medal of Honor for willing to give the ultimate sacrifice way beyond the call of duty.

    Do not penalize this hero for surviving or not eligible because of some BS quota.

    JRC

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  4. JRC you do not have to give the ultimate sacrifice to receive the medal of honor. I also believe that there does need to be some standards for receiving medals. If you looka t the military now you will see that there ar medals that are abused. Achievement medals in some places are given just for completing a tour of duty and I am not refering to tours in Afghanistan or Iraq. I am sure if you ask most of us that have served medals really do not mean to much. I strongly believe that they our families appreciate them more. Again most of us did not join the military to earn medals.

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  5. Paul,
    All you said is true to a point. Just by being willing to serve in the military, you are different and in most people's eyes, that makes you a hero already. Firefighters being willing to risk their lives for others, makes them a hero. Police officers, again willing to risk their lives, makes them a hero. Anytime people are willing to pay any price for the sake of someone else, that makes them a hero.

    Some we acknowledge more because what they did was stunning.

    I've had the blessing of meeting several of these folks and one of them is Sammy Davis Jr.

    While he wears his MOH, he wears his humanity and humbleness more. That has been the attitude of most of the men and women I've met in the last 29 years. Can't believe I've been in this that long, but all of you make every day, every heart ache, worth it because most of you never seem to think how different all of you are from the rest of us. You are less than one percent of the nation. Veterans make up less than 10 percent of the population.

    Serving in the military alone makes you rare but I think no matter what you did in life, the hero part, the part of you that allows you be willing to risk your life was always there.

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  6. Every person choosing to place themselves in the line of fire is a hero in my book. These men and women answer the call of duty to their country, they serve to protect us and the freedoms that so many of us Americans take for granted. I never had the courage it took to step up and enlist. Two of my brothers did. Both served in the Middle East, one in Iraq in 2002, the other in Afghanistan in 2010. I thank God every day that they both came home physically sound. They both will carry the emotional and psychological scars of their service for the rest of their lives. They are both proud young men who enlisted after a time when it became evident that we would likely be going to war. They did not go for glory, or to be heroes, but rather to do a service for their country and to fight for freedoms that they believed in. That is what makes them heroes. They don't need medals on their chests to prove that they are worth something to someone, they know that within themselves as does every American soldier I have ever met, no matter the branch of service they serve within. They left American soil boys and came home men. They both lost good friends, and brothers-in-arms, in the Middle East and yet their convictions and belief in the American system of government have never wavered. They are patriots through and through. Should young men like Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter be honored? Absolutely! His actions were noble, admirable, and heroic. Would a Medal of Honor make him more special than any other American soldier who has served in combat? No, but that does not in any way denigrate the fact that his actions were intended to save his friend. Does he deserve a Medal of Honor? Probably. But this honor is not generally handed out to ever soldier performing a heroic act in the line of duty.

    Our soldiers are a very special part of our country. These young men and women serve so that the majority of us do not have to, whether in a combat role or not. They are an integral part of our society and it is essential that they are recognized as such. I am thankful that there are young men like Lance Cpl. Carpenter, as I am sure Cpl. Nick Eufrazio and his family are as well.

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  7. AnneBrown716 wonderful comment and thank you very much for sharing that. Your family is in my prayers.

    I am an Army brat but I didn't go in myself and then I married a Vietnam veteran. Veterans have been in my life since the day I was born and in a way, I am serving them because of them. You are totally right on about what these men and women are like. They are amazing!

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  8. Because of my brothers' service, I have chosen my own way to serve our soldiers. I am pursuing a degree in psychology so that I may one day work with veterans suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome. The effect of war on our service men and women is traumatic in more ways than pysical and services have been slow in coming to help our veterans reenter civilian life.

    JRC, It is easy to criticize our politicians and political system as the culprits and make them the scapegoats but who put them in office? The American people.

    No one is penalizing Lance Cpl. Carpenter, he has been recognized as a hero for his actions. He has to live with the scars of his actions for the rest of his life. Do you believe that a Medal of Honor is going to mitigate those scars? His Medal of Honor is that he can wear those scars with the pride of service and the knowledge that he was willing to give his life for his friend and brother in arms. He will live with the eternal thankfulness of Cpl. Nick Eufrazio and his family. He has gained a lot more than what a piece of tin and ribbon and recognition from the government will give him. He, I am sure, has gained pride in himself and the knowledge that he had what it took to be a hero when it was necessary. That, my friend, is worth far more than some ribbon around his neck and thanks from some politician who may not even be able to identify with what it is like to be a soldier.

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  9. Ann
    I am so glad you are going into that line of work. I can tell you that your heart will be broken a thousand times but when they come out on the other end, you will be astounded by the outcome. They never fail to amaze me. You will be serving the men and women that risked their lives and that, there is no equal to.

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  10. There is an update to his story with a video interview. What an amazing man he really is!

    http://woundedtimes.blogspot.com/2012/01/marine-lance-cpl-kyle-carpenter-injured.html

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  11. An image of Carpenter is being passed around Facebook attached to a false piece of propaganda about a proposed 28th amendment to the Constititution. I'm pretty sure it's being used without permission. It appears to be from this ceremony. Someone may want to take action on this.

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