Marine receives highest honor


A U.S. soldier from Columbia, KY. will receive a Medal of Honor for saving 36 soldiers while on duty in Afghanistan; he will be first Marine since the Vietnam War to be awarded the military’s highest decoration.

Dakota Meyer, 23, requested a beer with President Barack Obama on Wednesday before his ceremony Thursday. The two were photographed on the Oval Office patio while drinking mugs of ale.

Meyer had been serving in Afghanistan on Sept. 8, 2009 when his troops and other Afghan soldiers came under attack from Taliban fire.

Defying supervisors’ orders, Meyer made several trips into the war zone and saved 13 Americans and 23 Afghans. He also recovered the bodies of four Americans who were killed in action.