“Corporal William Kyle Carpenter,” as President Obama named him at the White House, was a Marine lance corporal “in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom on 21 November, 2010,” his Medal of Honor citation says. “Keep in mind, at the time, Kyle was just 21 years old,” the President said. “The platoon had established Patrol Base Dakota two days earlier in a small village in the Marja District,” and “Lance Corporal Carpenter and a fellow Marine were manning a rooftop security position on the perimeter of Patrol Base Dakota,” the citation says. CBS News names the other Marine: “Lance Cpl. William ‘Kyle’ Carpenter and Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio were on a rooftop in Helmand Province in Afghanistan in November 2010.” In the President’s words, “Kyle and Nick laid down low on their backs behind those sandbags,” and “there on that rooftop he wasn’t just with a fellow Marine, he was with his best friend.”
Then “the enemy initiated a daylight attack with hand grenades, one of which landed inside their sandbagged position,” the citation says; CBS News: “A live grenade landed on the roof next to both men.” “And then the grenade landed with a thud, its pin already pulled. It was about to explode. And Kyle has no memory of what happened next,” the President said. The citation tells it: “Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own safety, Lance Corporal Carpenter moved towards the grenade in an attempt to shield his fellow Marine from the deadly blast. When the grenade detonated, his body absorbed the brunt of the blast, severely wounding him but saving the life of his fellow Marine.”
The Navy lists among his wounds “the loss of his right eye,” and the President spoke of “a shattered right arm broken in more than 30 places.” “While being treated, he went into cardiac arrest, and three times, he flatlined. Three times, doctors brought him back,” the President said. “Eventually, Kyle woke up after five weeks in a coma.” “Nick also suffered grievous wounds,” he said, but he lived; the citation credits Kyle with “saving the life of his fellow Marine.” For Kyle there followed “Nearly 40 surgeries” and “more than two and a half years in the hospital.”
On June 19, 2014, “President Obama awards Corporal William ‘Kyle’ Carpenter the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions while serving in Afghanistan,” the White House says. “At 24 years old, Carpenter is its youngest living recipient,” CBS News reported that day. “And, by the way, he’s only 24 years old, and says, ‘I am just getting started,’” the President said. In January 2025 the US Navy announced a destroyer in his name, “the future USS Kyle Carpenter (DDG 148).”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- He moved toward a live grenade, instead of away from it. His Medal of Honor citation, read at the White House: “Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own safety, Lance Corporal Carpenter moved towards the grenade in an attempt to shield his fellow Marine from the deadly blast.” CBS News: “A live grenade landed on the roof next to both men.” 12
- His name is Kyle Carpenter. The citation: “Lance Corporal Carpenter.” President Obama: “Corporal William Kyle Carpenter.” 1
- In November 2010, he was a 21-year-old Marine in Afghanistan. The citation: “in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom on 21 November, 2010.” President Obama: “Keep in mind, at the time, Kyle was just 21 years old.” 1
- He and his best friend, Nick, were keeping watch on a rooftop, behind sandbags. The citation: “Lance Corporal Carpenter and a fellow Marine were manning a rooftop security position on the perimeter of Patrol Base Dakota.” President Obama: “Kyle and Nick laid down low on their backs behind those sandbags” and “there on that rooftop he wasn’t just with a fellow Marine, he was with his best friend.” 1
- Then a grenade landed right next to them. The citation: “the enemy initiated a daylight attack with hand grenades, one of which landed inside their sandbagged position.” CBS News: “A live grenade landed on the roof next to both men.” 12
- Kyle moved toward it, to shield Nick from the blast. The citation: he “moved towards the grenade in an attempt to shield his fellow Marine from the deadly blast.” 1
- It exploded. The citation: “When the grenade detonated, his body absorbed the brunt of the blast, severely wounding him but saving the life of his fellow Marine.” 1
- He lost his right eye, and his right arm was broken in more than 30 places. US Navy: “the loss of his right eye.” President Obama: “a shattered right arm broken in more than 30 places.” CBS News: “Carpenter was blinded in his right eye.” 312
- His heart stopped three times, and three times doctors brought him back. President Obama: “While being treated, he went into cardiac arrest, and three times, he flatlined. Three times, doctors brought him back.” 1
- He woke up from a coma five weeks later. President Obama: “Eventually, Kyle woke up after five weeks in a coma.” 1
- He has no memory of what he did. President Obama: “And then the grenade landed with a thud, its pin already pulled. It was about to explode. And Kyle has no memory of what happened next.” 1
- Nick was badly hurt too, but he lived. President Obama: “Nick also suffered grievous wounds.” The citation: “saving the life of his fellow Marine.” 1
- Then came nearly 40 surgeries. President Obama: “Nearly 40 surgeries” … “more than two and a half years in the hospital.” 1
- In June 2014, President Obama gave him the Medal of Honor. The White House, June 19, 2014: “President Obama awards Corporal William ‘Kyle’ Carpenter the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions while serving in Afghanistan.” 1
- At 24, he was its youngest living recipient. CBS News: “At 24 years old, Carpenter is its youngest living recipient.” 2
- And he said, “I am just getting started.” President Obama: “And, by the way, he’s only 24 years old, and says, ‘I am just getting started.’” 1
Sources
- The President Awards the Medal of Honor to Corporal William ‘Kyle’ Carpenter (President Obama’s remarks and the citation, June 19, 2014) The White House (Obama archive)
- Obama awards Medal of Honor to Marine Kyle Carpenter (Jake Miller, June 19, 2014) CBS News
- SECNAV Del Toro Names Destroyers and Frigate at the 37th Surface Navy Association (SNA) National Symposium (January 15, 2025) US Navy
Notes
What exactly he did: the citation says he “moved towards the grenade in an attempt to shield his fellow Marine”; some news reports say he “threw himself” or “dove on top of” it. The Short and this page follow the citation’s words.
Who saw it: the President said other Marines “looked up and saw it happen”; 2012 reporting by Marine Corps Times said no one could see inside the sandbagged post. We name no witness.
“No memory”: the White House says he has “no memory of what happened next,” after the grenade landed; PBS (2014) quotes him remembering only a few seconds after the blast. The Short says “no memory of what he did,” which both support.
His eye: the Navy says “the loss of his right eye,” CBS News “blinded in his right eye,” and the President spoke of “a new prosthetic eye.” His wounds are told here only in these official words.
The surgeries: “Nearly 40” is the White House figure of 2014; other years give other counts. “Youngest living recipient” was true in 2014 (CBS News), so the Short says “was.”
Kyle Carpenter and Nick Eufrazio are both alive. Nothing here goes beyond what the citation, the President, CBS News and the Navy have published; Nick’s injuries are told only in the President’s words, and we leave out his family and where he lives.
Pictures: Kyle Carpenter himself is in his official Medal of Honor photo (US Marine Corps, June 18, 2014), on patrol in Helmand province in August 2010 (in the foreground), at the first corporals course for wounded warriors at Walter Reed in Bethesda in January 2012, looking out of a hotel window in Arlington on June 16, 2014, three days before the ceremony, walking with President Obama on the Colonnade, and receiving the medal on June 19, 2014. No free photo exists of the grenade, the rooftop at Patrol Base Dakota or Nick Eufrazio, so the other photos show other Marines and other days, not Kyle and Nick on November 21, 2010: two Marines of Combat Logistics Battalion 3 on a rooftop in Marjah in December 2010, silhouetted; a Marine of 1st Battalion, 6th Marines on a rooftop in Marjah on February 17, 2010; Marines of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines in a firefight in Marjah on October 30, 2010 (the date in its Defense Department caption; the camera’s date reads December 9, 2008); Cpl. Sol N. Schilling of 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines entering a compound in northern Marjah, and Marines and sailors of the same battalion on patrol there, both on October 21, 2010; a UH-60 Black Hawk landing for a medical evacuation outside Marjah on February 13, 2010, not his; a Navy surgical technician preparing an operating station at the Bastion Hospital, Camp Bastion, on May 19, 2010; and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda in 2011.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
All the photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Brahms, Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68: I. Un poco sostenuto - Allegro (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0); Mussorgsky, Night on Bald Mountain (1886 version) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain); Brahms, Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68: IV. Adagio - Piu andante - Allegro non troppo, ma con brio (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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