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Kentucky Marine to Receive Medal of Honor for Afghan Valor

By Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Pentagon officials say President Barack Obama will present the Medal of Honor to a Marine who braved enemy fire in Afghanistan in a bid to find and retrieve three missing Marines and a Navy corpsman.

Dakota Meyer, who left active duty in June 2010, will be the first living Marine in 41 years to receive the nation's highest award for valor. He was born in Greensburg, Kentucky and is a 2006 graduate of Green County High School.

The decision to present the award to Meyer was first reported Tuesday by Leatherneck, a Marine Corps Association publication, and by the Marine Corps Times, an independent newspaper. Both said Obama called Meyer on Monday to break the news.