Buckle up, folks! The D-Day is almost here. The college football fans have already started their predictions. Is it Ryan Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes? Or is it going to be Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish? Yes, most of us are still confused and have no other option than to wait for the finale. However, what we know is the fact that the pre-game of the finale is indeed going to be special.

That’s because it will have a segment to honor military personnel. It’s none other than retired Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, the marine who saved his best friend’s life by throwing himself on a grenade. 

How college football recognizes Cpl. Kyle Carpenter’s bravery?

The College Football Playoff championship game in Atlanta is going to be much more than the game of football. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium is decking up for January 20 to gift a night that the fans are going to remember for the longest time. There will be a live performance from Coco Jones, who will perform the Star-Spangled Banner.

The game is taking place in Atlanta, the birthplace of the civil rights movement. So, the coin toss will be performed by Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter Dr. Bernice King. College football will recognize Medal of Honor recipient retired Marine Cpl. Kyle Carpenter.

Carpenter stands as a face of courage for the nation. This is not the first time that he received an award. Back in 2014, at just 24 years old, he received the nation’s highest military reward from Barack Obama for his heroic actions in Afghanistan in 2010. He was the youngest recipient of the Medal of Honor in history. But what earned him the award back in 2014 and even after 15 years?

Carpenter is known as the man who threw himself on a grenade. Yes, you read that right. He took the brunt of a live grenade lobbed by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2010, saving a fellow Marine’s life and nearly losing his own. The incident is probably going to haunt Carpenter for the rest of his life.

He and his best friend, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio was looking for a safe shelter in Helmand province when a live grenade landed near them. Even though he is recognized for his heroic efforts till today, it has left him with lifelong scars. But he owns those permanent marks like a hero.    

Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, an inspiration for all

During the attack, Carpenter was found face-down, over the blast. The intensity of the blast was so much that his helmet was riddled with holes. From the impact, his gear had melted, and part of his Kevlar vest was blown away. As per the reports, he was almost pushed to the brink of death, spending five weeks in a coma. Even after waking up, he had to go through a grueling rehabilitation that spanned two years in the hospital.

Carpenter had to undergo brain surgery to remove shrapnel. His collapsed lung itself required nearly 40 operations to repair. Along with this, he suffered from fractured fingers, a shattered right arm broken in more than 30 places, and multiple skin grafts. The grenade blast left him with a mangled jaw, and he even started having hallucinations from the heavy dose of painkillers. He even lost his right eye. But did he cope with the loss?

In an interview, Cpl. Kyle Carpenter shared, “The more cognizant I became of the extent of my injuries, the more I realized what a miracle it was that I was alive at all. … I was motivated not to let my injuries, and, by extension, the Taliban, have any power over me — for the sake of every Marine who had gone before me, and those still fighting.”

Do you know that Carpenter’s prosthetic eye has an image of Purple Heart in the pupil? Yes, it was a gift from the prosthetics team. Now you know what made College Football choose him as the Medal of Honor recipient.