Dakota L. Meyer

            Dakota L. Meyer is a United States Marine Corps veteran. He is the recipient of the Medal of Honor, which is the highest honor given by the military. He received the medal for actions during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Meyer humbly believes that he did what any other Marine would have done, but the military believes his actions were extraordinary.

            Meyer is in the news again when he responded to a claim that ISIS “appreciates” the work of the National Rifle Association. Eric Levitz published an article titled “ISIS Appreciated the NRA’s Work,” on the New York Magazine’s website. He claims that ISIS likes the stance of the NRA concerning its stance on background checks at gun shows. He also suggested that “gun shows are a significant security threat because terrorists can use them to buy weapons to use against innocent American citizens.

            Dakota Meyer discussed the New York Magazine article on the Fox News Channel.

“Well, first off, I mean, how much lower can a journalist fall to be taking, using ISIS as their credible source, right? … I think it’s ridiculous. Once again, the media is going out and they’re using their First Amendment to try to go after the Second Amendment, by not looking at the facts.

Here’s the facts of the whole thing of it. … Right, you look at San Bernardino. Right? In California out there, they have … restricted AR-15s. You got [to] have a background check on every single weapon. You have to register all your weapons out there. You have a waiting period – all these things they want to implement even more. And what’s the shooting caused by? An AR-15 with high-capacity magazines. It doesn’t seem like it worked in that situation.

[The Second Amendment is] the thing that stands in the way [of terrorism].

The article should read … the thing that stands in the way of ISIS being able to come over … and do terroristic acts is the NRA standing there protecting our rights to be able to bear arms and stand up for ourselves.

            Dakota Meyer is a hero in my mind for what he did in Afghanistan as well as for standing up to the liberals who are attempting to destroy the Second Amendment. We need more people like him who are willing and able to stand for liberty.

Dakota Meyer

                    Dakota Meyer received the Medal of Honor on September 15, 2011, and became the first living Marine to receive the medal since the Vietnam War.  He claims that he is no hero, but his life says he is.

                    Meyer was a corporal in the United States Marines on September 8, 2009.  Just before dawn that day, a patrol made up of Afghan forces and American trainers were making their way up a narrow valley on foot on their way to meet with some village elders. Suddenly the lights in the village went out and the patrol was pinned down by heavy Taliban fire.  Corporal Meyer and Staff Sergeant Juan Rodriguez-Chavez were about a mile away but could hear the ambush over the radio.  "It was as if the whole valley was exploding.  Taliban fighters were unleashing a firestorm from the hills, from the stone houses, even from the local school."  The patrol was soon pinned down.  Men were being wounded and killed, and four Americans were surrounded.

                    Four times Dakota requested permission to go rescue his friends, and four times he was denied permission because of the danger.  Finally he could stand it no longer and told Juan that he was going in to help.  "Juan jumped into a Humvee and took the wheel; Dakota climbed into the turret and manned the gun.  They were defying orders, but they were doing what they thought was right.  So they drove straight into a killing zone, Dakota's upper body and head exposed to a blizzard of fire from Ak-47s and machine guns, from mortars and rocket-propelled grenades."  

                    Dakota and Juan drove into the killing zone - not just once or twice but five times.  Each time they found wounded men Dakota would jump out of Humvee - exposing himself to the fire - to put the wounded men into the Humvee and take them for help.  Dakota was shot in the arm on one of the trips.  On the fifth trip into the village, the fire seemed "to come from every window, every doorway, every alley.  And when they finally got to those trapped Americans, Dakota jumped out.  And he ran toward them.  Drawing all those enemy guns on himself.  Bullets kicking up the dirt all around him.  He kept going until he came upon those four Americans, laying where they fell, together as one team.

                    "Dakota and the others who had joined him knelt down, picked up their comrades and - through all those bullets, all the smoke, all the chaos - carried them out, one by one.  Because, as Dakota says, `That's what you do for a brother.'"  Dakota accepted the Medal of Honor in the name of his brothers.

                    Dakota Meyer, who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, did not stop being a hero nor fighting for his "brothers" when he came home.  Today he has a new mission "to use his fame to draw attention to the alarming unemployment rate among veterans who have served since 9/11."  He doesn't care that much about being a Medal of Honor recipient, "but if I can use that to help veterans get jobs, I will."

                    The statistics about post-9/11 veterans are very sobering: 9.5 percent unemployment (national average 8.2 percent).  The rate for veterans 24 years and younger is 29 percent unemployment (civilian rate is approximately 17 percent).  Neither Meyer nor any of the veterans want charity or feel any sense of entitlement; they simply want jobs.

                    Meyer wants to "make a difference."  His mission is to help the veterans to obtain the proper "tools" in order to compete for jobs successfully.  His mission is being helped along by Toyota and the United States Chamber of Commerce, which has instituted a campaign called Hiring Our Heroes to encourage businesses to hire veterans.  This joint effort will help service members and veterans prepare effective resumes, improve their interview skills, and find jobs as well as encourage businesses to hire veterans.  An added plus of helping veterans to find jobs is national security:  if people know they will be helped when they return from serving their country, they will be more likely to volunteer for the job.   (See Bill Hewitt, "Man on a Mission," Parade Magazine, August 19, 2012, pp. 14-15.)  Dakota Meyer is a modern-day hero.  We should all be very proud of him!

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