President Obama on Thursday awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Marine Corps Cpl. William “Kyle” Carpenter, 24, for his conspicuous gallantry during a 2010 battle in Afghanistan in which he was seriously injured. “Anybody who has had a chance to get to know this young man knows you’re not going to get a better example of what you want in an American or a marine,” said Obama during the White House ceremony. “The Medal of Honor is presented for gallantry on the battlefield. But today, we also recognize Kyle Carpenter for his valor since in the hard fight for recovery,” said Obama. Carpenter lunged toward an enemy grenade to shield a fellow marine from the grenade blast during a firefight on Nov. 21, 2010, in Marjah, Afghanistan. Initially pronounced dead on arrival at a field hospital, he ultimately endured two-and-a-half years of recovery in a military hospital. “The enemy killed me. I came back, ran a marathon, completed a mud run, and jumped from a plane. I won’t ever quit. I am just getting started,” said Carpenter in a Marine Corps video. (Obama’s remarks and White House blog entry) (Marine Corps’ MOH webpage.)
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.