The Navy has awarded a contract for a new destroyer that will be named for Marine Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for jumping on a hand grenade in Afghanistan to save his friend.
“In 2010, Cpl. Carpenter went above and beyond the call of duty to shield a fellow Marine from a grenade blast in Afghanistan,” Navy Secretary John Phelan posted on X on Monday, announcing the new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the USS Kyle Carpenter.
“May this warship represent his valor, resilience and devotion to our Nation,” Phelan wrote.
Former Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro first announced in January that the destroyer would bear Carpenter’s name.
Carpenter was a lance corporal with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, when he was deployed to Helmand Province on Nov. 21, 2010. He was manning a rooftop security post when a grenade landed near him and fellow Marine Lance Cpl. Nick Eufrazio.
“Without hesitation, and with complete disregard for his own safety, Lance Corporal Carpenter moved toward the grenade in an attempt to shield his fellow Marine from the deadly blast,” Carpenter’s Medal of Honor citation reads. “When the grenade detonated, his body absorbed the brunt of the blast, severely wounding him, but saving the life of his fellow Marine.”
Carpenter’s survival is a miracle. His vital signs flatlined several times while he was being treated, but he was repeatedly resuscitated. Eufrazio was also severely wounded by the blast.
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In a 2021 interview with Task & Purpose, Carpenter reflected on leaving the Marine Corps after spending three years recovering from his wounds at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
“I felt like I had accomplished what I had set out to do,” Carpenter said. “Maybe I had only been in a year and a half, but bleeding for my country the way I did, I felt like I had contributed, and done my part, not only for the Marine Corps, but for our country, and to try to help people around the world.”
In recent years, the Navy has begun to name ships to honor the sacrifices of service members who took part in the Global War on Terrorism, including USS Helmand Province and USS Fallujah.
UPDATE: 08/05.2025; This story has been updated to make clear that former Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro first announced in January that a Navy destroyer would be named for Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter.
