Medal of Honor recipient returns to Hardin Co. High School

JACKSON, Tenn. — A Medal of Honor recipient visited his former school.

Medal of Honor recipient and retired United States Marine Corps Cpl. Kyle Carpenter returned to Hardin County High School Friday morning.

“To walk in and not have seen my football coaches in 10 years, and them giving me hugs right when I walked in the door and showing me that same love and support as they did all those years ago,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter was awarded the Medal of Honor after he suffered life-altering injuries in Afghanistan in 2010.

Witnesses say he threw himself on top of a grenade to save his fellow Marines.

Carpenter wrote about a book that chronicles his recovery.

“You can get hit by a grenade; you can get knocked down in life and come back and run a marathon, jump out of a plane, go to college,” Carpenter said.

And Carpenter hopes these students, who are walking in the same halls he once did, understand they are worth it, which is also the title of his book.

“I hope it’s not only something they can pick up, read, understand, but also in a way, through struggle, because everybody struggles, that it’s something they can relate to and take lessons from,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter is one of three Medal of Honor recipients to have lived in Savannah, including Bolden Reush Harrison and Vernon McGarity.