Marine awarded Medal of Honor by Obama

WASHINGTON -- Defying orders and tempting fate, Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer charged five times in a Humvee into heavy gunfire in the darkness of an Afghanistan valley to rescue comrades under attack from Taliban insurgents.

On Thursday, Meyer was presented with the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, by President Barack Obama.

Meyer's heroics during the six-hour ambush and firefight saved the lives of 36 Americans and Afghans. He killed at least eight Taliban insurgents. Firing from a gun turret on top of the Humvee driven by a fellow Marine, he provided cover for his team, allowing many to escape likely death.

He was defying orders from his commanders, who told him to stay back. The kill zone, they said, was too dangerous. But the corporal, just 21 at the time, knew his friends were trapped that early morning in September 2009.

"In Sgt. Dakota Meyer we see the best of a generation that has served with distinction through a decade of war," Obama said during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

Meyer, promoted later to sergeant and out of the Marines now, is the third living recipient and the first Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The modest, soft-spoken 23-year-old now lives in his home state of Kentucky, working in construction in the tiny town of Greensburg.

Obama praised Meyer for his humility and work ethic. When the White House tried to reach him in the middle of a workday to tell him his medal had been approved, he worried about whether he could take a call while on the job. So the White House arranged for the president to call during Meyer's lunch break.

With a smile, Obama thanked him for taking the call.

On the eve of the Medal of Honor ceremony, Obama and Meyer met in person, chatting on a patio near the White House Rose Garden, over a beer.