On Sept. 8, 2009, a mixed force of U.S. Marines and Afghan gov- ernment troops were ambushed near Ganjgal by more than 50 Taliban fighters. Learning that four men of his Embedded Training Team 2-8 were cut off, Cpl. Dakota Meyer and another Marine carried out five trips in three gun trucks, returning fire with a rifle and machine gun. Ignoring a shrapnel wound to his arm, Meyer recovered the bodies of his teammates along with two dozen Afghan troops, inspiring the others to fight and ultimately disrupt the Taliban attack over the course of a 6-hour battle.