Kyle Carpenter

Right.

I think that's the beautiful thing about the human spirit is that anyone can step up in a time of need, no matter how small or how large of an act.

But those moments on the roof were a culmination of the love and support throughout my life that I received from my parents.

It was a culmination from...

And I think a lot of people think, oh, Marine Corps, combat oriented, you know, hardcore, whatever you think of when you think of Marines, good or bad.

Everyone thinks it's all about training.

And every day we're just throwing grenades around the place, fake grenades.

And, hey, who's going to jump on it?

We do training with grenades, and I think it's just a byproduct of being in uniform and training with grenades that...

that you think about things like that.

And just in general, going into combat, am I going to be able to step up the way that I need to?

Am I going to step up instead of back down when the bullets start flying?

But it was never a tangible moment of training.

So many people think it's training, but an amazing aspect of the Marine Corps, especially through boot camp, is through the difficult moments of training, when you're worn down, when you've been out training and you're tired and you're hungry and you've been exposed to the elements for days on end.

Your drill instructors, it's a very intentional part of boot camp that in between those moments, they'll sit you down and they teach you about the history of the Marine Corps, those that came before you, those stories of unfathomable courage.

I mean, I remember sitting there in boot camp during the crucible, our big final event before we received our Eagle Globe and Anchor.

Uh, and I believe I speak for all of us when sitting there, I just thought, I mean, who could, who could do something like this?

How can someone, and now I understand more, not for my action, but just from, from being a Marine and having that time in service.

But, um,

Just unfathomable acts of courage.