Blake Hall
Bristol Palin, the daughter of former Alaskan governor and vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin, announced her engagement to Dakota Meyer Saturday.
Meyer is the Marine Corps first living Medal of Honor recipient since the Vietnam War.
A native of Columbia, Kentucky, the Iraq veteran was part of a team of Afghan and U.S. troops that entered the Ganjgal Valley on September 8, 2009 to meet with village elders for a routine meeting.
It turned out to be nothing of the sort, and very quickly Meyer and his team were faced with 50 enemy insurgents dug into high ground with an assortment of deadly weapons poised to attack. Initially, the Marine was sent to a rallying point and ordered not to rejoin the fighting in the village. But when he heard the radio messages between his fellow Marines he relented and entered the battle.
When it was over, he was credited with killing eight Taliban, evacuating 12 wounded and even providing cover so that more than two dozen soldiers could escape with their life.
For his heroism, President Obama awarded him with the Medal of Honor in ceremony at the White House on September 15, 2011.
He even knocked back some suds with the Commander-in-Chief. Meyer asked if he could have a beer with the President when he got the tap for the prestigious honor, and President Obama gladly obliged.
Meyer proposed to his now-fiancee at a Rascall Flatts concert after the band dedicated a song to the couple.
He posted a Facebook notice early Saturday about the engagement with Palin, writing, “I’m definitely the luckiest guy ever to be able to spend the rest of my life with @bsmp2 ?#?shesaidyes?.”
Palin said the two met while filming on the set of Amazing America, and have since flown back and forth from Kentucky and Alaska numerous times to see each other.