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Obama not backing down on Medal of Honor award to Marine
Meyer has been humble about receiving the honor, calling it “the worst day of his life” because his comrades died.
The Marines said in a statement they were very disappointed McClatchy published the story. The award investigation process used first-person, eye-witness accounts and supporting documents and that Meyer “rightly deserved the nation’s highest military honor,” the Marines said.
The Marines acknowledged that the process was not flawless.
“Because of the nature of the events supporting awards for valor, it is normal for minor discrepancies to appear when reviewing the source information and collecting eyewitness statements,” it said.
The Marines also acknowledged that the public narrative of Meyer’s actions on the battlefield, as it appeared on the Marine Corps website, was his personal account.
The military said Meyer saved 13 American and 23 Afghan soldiers’ lives, and he “personally killed at least eight Taliban insurgents, while providing cover for his team to fight their way out.”
The McClatchy report said that could not have happened because 12 Americans and the reporter were ambushed that day.
Four were killed, and a fifth would later die of injuries. The report also said there were no statements that credit Meyer with killing eight Taliban.
The Humvee driver with Meyer during the ambush, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, reported seeing Meyer kill one insurgent, according to the McClatchy story.
McClatchy’s Washington bureau chief James Asher noted the Marines were not challenging the story.
“History isn’t being well served by this, nor do I think Dakota Meyer is either,” Asher said. “For reasons that are mystifying to me, the Marine Corps wanted for some reason to make a better story.”
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
