Dakota Meyer reenlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2025, becoming the first Medal of Honor recipient to reenlist and later completed the Corps’ reconnaissance training in his late 30s.
Meyer told Fox News Digital in an interview ahead of Veterans Day that he was 36 when he decided to put the uniform back on and that the desire to serve “didn’t just end” after his first stint in the Marines.
Meyer recounted that at 21 he fought in the 2009 Battle of Ganjgal in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. He said he had been assigned to remain with vehicles at a rally point while other members of his team accompanied Afghan troops toward the village; the patrol was ambushed by more than 50 insurgents firing from fortified positions on the surrounding slopes.
According to Meyer’s account to Fox News Digital, he and Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez repeatedly drove into the ambush, with Meyer manning a gun turret, to evacuate wounded troops and search for teammates. Meyer said his four teammates were ultimately found dead and that he later received the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.
Meyer told Fox News Digital he struggled after leaving the Marines the following year, saying “the horrors of war definitely haunted me” and that the hardest part of returning to civilian life was finding a sense of purpose.
He said it took about two years from the time he resolved to reenlist to actually returning to the Corps. Meyer entered the reconnaissance training pipeline after reenlisting and told Fox News Digital that completing the grueling course at 38 was among the hardest things he has done, citing cumulative fatigue and slower recovery compared with younger Marines.
Meyer also told Fox News Digital he was impressed by the generation of Marines currently serving, saying they are not weaker and that he learned from younger Marines during training. He said the Marine Corps has changed since he left in 2010 and described much of that change as necessary.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
