Ganjgal Ambush

Lexington Newspaper harasses American Hero from Ganjgal Ambush - Please join me in telling this paper what we think of this!!

While the military world knows to ignore the sensationalized media stories that get released, civilians aren't usually so aware of what really goes on in the military world.   People don't know the truth when media sources such as the Lexington Herald allow stories attacking Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Dakota Meyer, a story that is full of "facts" that are not substantiated by reliable sources, to be published on it's pages it's guilty of the same acts of harassment committed by the reporter that wrote the article.

Prior to this story being released, I emailed Rufus Friday, President of the Lexington Herald, to ask him to please not allow the release of such irresponsible stories about this American hero that lives within it's own reader area and whose family and neighbors receive this paper on their front porches.  His response was to forward my email to the editor, Peter Baniak, who returned the email with the comment "I'm not aware that he has another story coming."  And then they published the story when they received it, two days after 9-11 and one day after the attack on Americans in Libya.

These two men knew that this article was full of information that was speculation at best, and not verifiable.  They knew that they were potentially causing a stressful situation to someone we owe nothing but gratitude to.  They have also caused emotional stress to some of the families of the fallen that Sgt. Meyer recovered.

Please join me in writing, emailing or calling the people responsible for causing this extended amount of grief to people who definitely do not deserve it. Let Mr. Friday know what you think about them publishing stories that are harmful and can't be proven by reliable sources.


Lexington Herald
Rufus Friday, President & Publisher
100 Midland Avenue, Lexington, KY
859-231-3248
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Baniak, Peter, Editor & Vice President
100 Midland Avenue, Lexington, KY
859-231-3446
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Reporter responsible for writing these articles:

Jonathan Landay
McClatchey News
700 12th Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington, D.C. 20005
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Before you say, "It's the media, what can you really do to make it stop?" think about this...what could a handful of people in a newly discovered country do when England was treating them unfairly?  They figured out a solution and fixed the problem!  I believe the solution to this problem is for people to stand up and make the people responsible for bad media sources accountable for their actions.  It's time we stop letting things go because it's not worth the effort. Stop letting media control the attitude and direction of our country. Our country is always worth the effort!

Reporter still attacks Medal of Honor recipient, interviews enemy for "proof" this time

Once again, a reporter (the same one, who doesn't even deserve to have his name mentioned again) has attacked Dakota Meyer and his Medal of Honor.  This time he's gone too far.

The reporter has gone to Afghanistan to interview members of the Afghan National Army to "prove" that the actions outlined in the Medal of Honor narrative are incorrect. 

Who exactly did he interview?  He interviewed the three individuals that went into the village just ahead of four Americans that were killed in the ambush. 

My questions is this:  How did those first three guys into the ambush, that happen to be Afghans, come out of that alive when the men entering the village behind them died? 

I'm not the only one who thinks this is suspicious.  This whole ambush was set up and most certainly required help from within.  These three men were probably the ones that were in on the ambush.  They probably signalled to the Taliban to let them know it was time to unleash Hell on our troops.

So the reporter publishes two articles this week, which on it's own was incredibly distasteful and insensitive to our country considering what was going on.  One article gives "credibility" to these ANA members by having them describe how heroic the ETT members that died were, and the second uses that fabricated "credibility" as proof that the events that were documented by multiple US Military members did not occur.

So, the reporter gets paid by his parent company to sneak into Afghanistan and goes to who could be the enemy, very likely the very people responsible for the deaths of 5 Americans, to get "proof" to use in his personal attack on a Medal of Honor Recipient and the United States Marine Corps. 

I'm not so much concerned about our Military community knowing that this reporter is spewing nothing but hatred, misinformation and lies.  I've been informed that no one takes him seriously.  HOWEVER, this man publishes these lies in papers that Dakota's family have delivered on their doorsteps.  They have to exist in a town that doesn't know that the reporter is lying. 

That is why I keep trying to get the truth out there in response to his articles.  And I will not stop until the reporter stops spreading lies.

Did reporter kill the chances for a second MOH recipient out of the Ganjgal Ambush?

I can not begin to guess the reason why Jonathan Landay, a McClatchey New reporter, would publish multiple articles that try to discredit both Dakota Meyer, Medal of Honor recipient, and the United States Marine Corps. Many of his previous articles were published under the guise of shedding light on the Swenson MoH not being awarded yet.

However, if Jonathan Landay had really had Will Swenson's best interests in mind, he would have enlisted the help of Dakota Meyer, and the others that were supporting Landay's efforts, to work together and put pressure on the Army to get Will's MoH packet through it's process before time ran out. I'm sure many people would have happily helped kick the process in the butt to get it to it's final destination...the President's Desk.

What Landay ultimately did was create a chaotic mess of negativity all aimed at Dakota, all so Landay could sell his articles. Clearly, the only interest Landay had in any of this was his own.

Landay had really been helping the Army for the most part. The Army was probably very relieved to have all the light focused on Dakota and the USMC right now. As far as this whole mess is concerned, the bottom line is that the Army screwed up and the Army got people killed. The Army probably does not want the details that they created for Will Swenson's MoH narrative out in public for it to be compared to Dakota's. I have not seen Swenson's narrative but I'm willing to bet it leaves out quite a bit of what really happened, only to cover the Army's collective behind.

Landay repeatedly pointed out that both narratives were different and that he wanted explanations for that. He repeatedly shared information that was considered a private process. I really think that Landay pushed this so far that the Army put the brakes on the MoH process just to cover their own butts. They lost Swenson's packet once before and the USMC got it kickstarted again...who says they can't lose it again?

The deadline has passed for Swenson, and I have no idea what the process is now. You can be sure though that Landay will not just go away. I feel that his true intentions of discrediting Dakota and the Medal of Honor will be visible again very soon.

Ganjgal Ambush Third Anniversary

It's been three years and, even as an outsider looking in, I don't think it ever gets easier on anyone involved.  Thank you to all that have helped keep alive the memories of those that died that day.  We will never forget.

Dakota Meyer, the Ganjgal Ambush, and What Really Matters

*This article was originally published at HooahWife.com

The Ganjgal Ambush is a daily thought in my house. You can't walk from the kitchen to the bedroom without passing reminders. James' pictures, medals, citations...his folded flag. Along with the metal bracelets we wear every day, these things remind us that we have an obligation to those that died that day, as well as the one that died a month later as a result of the wounds received during that battle. We have a responsibility to never forget, to live life to it's fullest because they don't have that choice anymore, and to do the right thing no matter who isn't going to like it.

Right now, the right thing for me to do is to stand up and point out that someone is trying to tarnish what's been written in the history books with their own news articles that discredit Dakota Meyer, one of the individuals responsible for bringing James' body back to his family.  Dakota is one of the people who almost died making sure the Taliban didn't do unspeakable things to James and his brothers that were shot to death in that valley on September 8, 2009.  He and 3 of his brothers in arms went into a hell some of us will never understand, and made sure that the 3 Marines and 1 Corpsman that were killed that day were brought home to a proper burial.

Trying to Discredit a Hero

Some news articles have been published, and others are on the way, implying that Dakota is not the person who deserved the Medal of Honor for his actions, or that he has lied about the actions that took place that day.

After the incident, there were two fact finding investigations (a 15-6 Investigation) done, one by the Army and a subsequent investigation done by the Marine Corps.  Both yielded a 15-6 report with their findings.   Everyone associated was interviewed: the people directly involved, witnesses that were there when the wounded were brought in, witnesses to the radio conversations during the request for air support, evacuations and during the actual time Dakota and his brothers went in to find the four missing men.

Read more: Dakota Meyer, the Ganjgal Ambush, and What Really Matters