Retired Marine Cpl. Kyle Carpenter is set to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for bravery, on June 19. Carpenter will be the third Marine to be awarded the medal since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Carpenter, now 24-years-old, will be recognized for covering a grenade with his body to save the life of a fellow Marine in 2010, when he was a 21-year-old lance corporal. Both Carpenter and the soldier, his friend Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio, were badly wounded in the blast. They both survived.
Since 2010, Carpenter has embarked on a remarkable recovery. Carpenter was labeled as patient expired on arrival when he first arrived at a hospital after the blast. Three and a half years later, Carpenter insists that he is just getting started with his recovery. Already, he has gone on to run marathons and skydive.
As Carpenter told the Marine Corps Times in March, "I'm still here and kicking and, you know, I have all my limbs so you'll never hear me complain."
Kyle Carpenter was born in Jackson, Mississippi, where he lived until he enlisted with the Marine Corps in 2009.
After completing his training, Carpenter was deployed to Marjah, in Afghanistan's Helmand Province.
While serving, Carpenter (left) became close friends with Nicholas Eufrazio (right). On November 10, 2011, Carpenter threw himself on-top of a grenade in order to save Eufrazio's life.
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