Obama to Present Medal of Honor in White House Ceremony

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2014 - President Barack Obama will present the nation's highest award for battlefield gallantry to retired Marine Corps Cpl. William "Kyle" Carpenter in a White House ceremony at2:15 p.m. EDT today.

The Pentagon Channel will broadcast the ceremony live, and it also will stream live on the channel's website.

Carpenter is receiving the Medal of Honor for his actions Nov. 21, 2010, in the Marjah district of Afghanistan's Helmand province when enemy fighters attacked Patrol Base Dakota.

Carpenter was born in Flowood, Mississippi, on Oct. 17, 1989, and attended high school at W. Wyman King Academy, Batesburg, South Carolina, graduating in 2008. In February 2009, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and completed his basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, later that year.

At the time of his deployment in 2010 to combat duty in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, he was a lance corporal serving as a squad automatic rifleman with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

In July 2013, he was medically retired as a corporal due to his wounds. He is a full-time student at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.