COURAGE ON CAMPUS: Medal of Honor winner balances new high profile with living ‘normal’ life
In many ways, the days before the first day of school are the same for Kyle Carpenter as they are for any college student.
He’s going to advisement appointments, buying books, getting his hair cut. Oh, and by the way, he’s also doing doing media interviews, throwing out first pitches and being filmed by an ESPN documentary crew.
The 24-year-old sophomore studying international studies and psychology at the University of South Carolina insists he’s just “a normal college student.” But his country knows Carpenter is much more.
A retired Marine and the country’s youngest living Medal of Honor recipient, Carpenter’s war valor has spawned a wave of admiring public attention. Humbly, he’s now “trying to find a healthy balance between the medal and the military part of my life and being a student,” he said.
After dozens of surgeries and several years of recovery, Carpenter accepted the Medal of Honor in June for his selfless act of throwing himself on a grenade, saving the life of a fellow Marine in Afghanistan in November 2010. With the nation suddenly awed by his story and character, he had to hire an assistant to manage his many requests for interviews and appearances.
“I know there are people that maybe look up to me and see me as an example,” he said. “I just want to do good for all those that have supported me. ... But sometimes there’s just not enough time in the day, and sometimes that wears on me a little bit.”
He’s still working on figuring out how he’ll use his new-found profile to do good.
“I don’t really have that much time at all right now,” he said. “I’m taking it slow (with) putting my name on things and getting behind causes to support. And I’m definitely going to. But right now, I’m still ... a student brainstorming what I want to do after school.
“I’m thinking about what I want to do and how I want to do it.”
Right now, his focus is mainly on the 13 credit hours of classes he’ll be taking this semester – in addition to preparing for a number of speaking engagements, running in the Marine Corps Marathon in October and helping to publicize September’s Tunnel to Towers 5K Run and Walk, which honors another American hero, a firefighter who gave his life on Sept. 11, 2001.
Though his daily life has changed in some respects since his injury and recovery and award, he and his family, who live in Gilbert, haven’t, Carpenter said.
He’s an “adrenaline junkie,” and he does “love a good cliff to jump off.” He lives near campus. He spends time with his friends. He studies.
He has adjusted to the extra attention that has fallen on him, appreciating opportunities to meet people who have been inspired by his story. And those opportunities do come frequently.
“A lot of times you can definitely see that people are hesitant or timid to talk to you because they don’t know what to expect. They’ve never talked to a combat-wounded veteran before,” Carpenter said.
“Really, the only thing that comes from that is they look and say something and they realize that ... I’m a normal person.”
This story was originally published August 16, 2014 at 9:51 PM with the headline "COURAGE ON CAMPUS: Medal of Honor winner balances new high profile with living ‘normal’ life."