If you haven’t seen this video then watch it.
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This needs to go VIRAL!
This is such a smart young man! Fredrick Wilson II You should follow him on FB
Tag: American Patriots
Uncommon Valor: The Kyle Carpenter Story
25 year-old Kyle Carpenter should not be alive today. But he is, and he wears his scars with pride. After nearly 40 surgeries and two and a half years in the hospital, he got back to fighting shape and completed the Marine Corps Marathon.
This past summer, Kyle became the second living Marine since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor. He received the nation’s highest award for valor after he covered a grenade to save the life of his friend, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio, during an attack in Afghanistan as the two Marines were standing guard on a rooftop.
“I am proud to be a Marine. I am proud of those who have raised their right hand and those who have sacrificed to wear the sacred cloth of our nation. Freedom is a powerful and beautiful thing.” ~ Cpl Kyle Carpenter
His story is powerful and inspiring.
The story is quite powerful.
Kyle and a fellow Marine were startled to hear explosions outside their camp; enemy grenades rained down on the camp. Three grenades had already exploded before Kyle and his partner had geared up and made their way outside to combat the enemy. A fourth grenade landed just feet from Kyle and his partner and would explode any second.
‘Valor’ is defined as “Great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle”. What Kyle Carpenter did embodies the definition of valor. Before the grenade could explode, Kyle threw his body on top of it to shield his friend from the explosion. Despite being Med-evaced just minutes after the grenade exploded, Kyle was declared dead upon arrival to the hospital. Doctors would resuscitate Kyle several times and eventually stabilized him and put him in a medically induced coma.
Weeks later, Kyle awoke to Christmas stockings and decorations adorning his hospital room. He looked up and saw his father standing at the end of his bed and said “Hi Dad.” Kyle had survived.
Kyle had lost his right eye, and would eventually need some 40 surgeries to repair his broken body. His right arm sustained over 30 fractures in the explosion. Meanwhile, his partner, due to Kyle’s heroism, had survived the battle without injury.
Kyle Carpenter was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military honor in existence, for his uncommon valor and bravery in the line of duty. He recently ran a marathon and plans on running in a triathlon next. If ever anyone deserved the title of ‘Warrior’ it is Kyle Carpenter.
The first thing that went through my mind while I was watching this ESPN special was this: What kind of a person will willingly throw themselves on a live grenade to save their friend? What kind of will, what kind of courage, what kind of pure selflessness is required to do that? And then it hit me: the kind of will, courage and selflessness exhibited by true warriors.
It is staggering to think about. I asked myself “Would you have been able to do what Kyle did?” And I honestly don’t know the answer. I would like to think I could have been so selfless but the fact is I don’t really know. I have never been placed in a situation where such courage has been required. I do know one thing however; whatever it is that Kyle has that allowed him to make that sacrifice, I want it. If I don’t have it yet, I want it. The filial love Kyle had for his comrade was so powerful that I was overwhelmed with tears while I watched his story and even now as I sit here and type this, my eyes are welled with tears.
I think the lesson that you and I can take away from this story is this: being a warrior is a choice. Kyle had a choice: to jump on that grenade or to turn away from it and let what would happen, happen. Kyle chose the more difficult yet more heroic act. He chose to sacrifice himself for his friend. In Kyle’s mind, this was an act of suicide inasmuch as he was not supposed to survive. He knew full well that he was most likely going to die by throwing himself on that grenade; yet he did it anyway. John 15:13 says “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friend.” Kyle chose the path of ultimate sacrifice; to die so that his friend could live. Wow.
Make no mistake, Kyle Carpenter is a hero. A true hero. In this culture, we toss around that word ‘hero’ a great deal. So much so that the meaning has perhaps been dulled due to our desensitization. We say things like “You’re my hero” when someone brings us our Starbucks coffee or “X, Y, Z singer/athlete/musician/artist is my hero.” Hero is defined as: a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for COURAGE, outstanding achievements, or NOBLE qualities (emphasis added). Was Kyle Carpenter courageous? You bet your life he was. Is it noble to give up your life so that your friend can live? As sure as night follows day. Kyle Carpenter is a hero and you and I would be wise to emulate him. To study his life and to figure out how and why he was able to make such a choice in the face of death. Individuals like Kyle are people worth saying “You are my hero” to. True warriors like Kyle always deserve our respect and gratitude. True warriors like Kyle should always be our heroes and we should never stop telling their stories to our children and grandchildren.
An American With A Remington
Country singers Larry Gatlin and Billy Dean recorded a video of a song they had just written with a special message to ISIS. The song, called “An American with a Remington”, is a shot across the bow of ISIS warning them that they will face fierce resistance from Americans, most likely coming from the barrel of a gun. They intend to actually record and release a studio version in the near future.
Hell Yeah!
When I do master classes in songwriting, I open the class by saying, “It was either Plato, or Socrates, or…(pregnant pause) Johnny Cash, who said, “Take me not to those who write your laws, for they will lie. Take me to those who write your songs, for they will not.”
Then, after another pregnant pause, I confess to my class the neither of the three above-mentioned great philosophers said that. Rather, it was a not so great philosopher, but a fairly decent songwriter who said it…me!!
That brings me to another songwriter, a great songwriter, a Grammy Award-winning songwriter, and a great friend, Billy Dean.
We sat down with our two guitars, our two hearts, our two God given talents, and our singular love for America, and poured our two hearts out in a song, “An American with a Remington.”
Last week, in Joplin, Missouri, Billy, my brothers Steve and Rudy and I, along with our buddies T.G. Sheppard and Leroy Van Dyke did a benefit for the tornado victims of Joplin.
Backstage Billy said, “Hey L.G., I have a song idea I want you to help me write.” When he sang the “hook line” I said, “I’m in. Let’s do it.”
So, last Tuesday night, at the Starlight Theatre in Branson, in the dressing room that Billy and I share, we sat down with our two guitars, our two hearts, our two God given talents, and our singular love for America, and poured our two hearts out in a song, “An American with a Remington.”
The response has been unbelievable — more than 15 million hits and thousands of “hurrahs” from like-minded Americans — in only five days.
Please know that neither Billy nor I are trigger happy cowboys lookin’ for a fight. We just know that the fight is looking for us and for all Americans.
So we decided as 2 of “those who write the songs” it was up to is to write the truth, because so many of those who write our laws will not.
In closing, I don’t know how my friend Billy Dean was brought up, but my dad, the Marine, Curly Gatlin, taught me to shoot with a Remington 12 gauge pump shotgun out in West Texas.
We ate what we shot. That was, and still is the deal for the Gatlins. If you trophy hunt, that’s your business. The Gatlins eat what we kill, or we make damn sure that someone who needs the meat gets the quail, dove, or venison.
So that’s the story about the song “An American with a Remington.” Billy and I hope you like it. If you don’t, that’s none of our business, but I will say this, a lot of good men and women have fought and died or have been wounded to preserve and protect your right to disagree and say so. Is America a great country or what?!
Yours truly,
Larry Gatlin, an American with a Remington
P.S. And Billy Dean, an American with a Remington
P.P.S. One thing J.R. Cash did say to me long ago was, “Pilgrim, if something makes you mad enough boy, you’ll damn sure write a song about it.” Well, J.R., Billy and I are mad as hell about those cowardly, beheading bastards, so we did just that!!
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