2013-2014 Bill 5299: Corporal William Carpenter - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 120th Session, 2013-2014 3 4 H. 5299 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 Concurrent Resolution 9 Sponsors: Reps. Harrell, Alexander, Allison, Anderson, Anthony, Atwater, Bales, Ballentine, Bannister, 10 Barfield, Bedingfield, Bernstein, Bingham, Bowen, Bowers, Branham, Brannon, G.A. Brown, 11 R.L. Brown, Burns, Chumley, Clemmons, Clyburn, CobbHunter, Cole, H.A. Crawford, K.R. Crawford, 12 Crosby, Daning, Delleney, Dillard, Douglas, Edge, Erickson, Felder, Finlay, Forrester, Funderburk, 13 Gagnon, Gambrell, George, Gilliard, Goldfinch, Govan, Hamilton, Hardee, Hardwick, Hart, Hayes, 14 Henderson, Herbkersman, Hiott, Hixon, Hodges, Horne, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Jefferson, Kennedy, 15 King, Knight, Limehouse, Loftis, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Mack, McCoy, McEachern, M.S. McLeod, 16 W.J. McLeod, Merrill, Mitchell, D.C. Moss, V.S. Moss, Munnerlyn, Murphy, Nanney, Neal, Newton, 17 Norman, Norrell, R.L. Ott, Owens, Parks, Patrick, Pitts, Pope, Putnam, Quinn, Ridgeway, Riley, Rivers, 18 RobinsonSimpson, Rutherford, Ryhal, Sabb, Sandifer, Sellers, Simrill, Skelton, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, 19 J.E. Smith, J.R. Smith, Sottile, Southard, Spires, Stavrinakis, Stringer, Tallon, Taylor, Thayer, Toole, 20 Vick, Weeks, Wells, Whipper, White, Whitmire, Williams, Willis and Wood 21 Document Path: l:\council\bills\rm\1653zw14.docx 22 Companion/Similar bill(s): 5298 23 24 Introduced in the House on May 27, 2014 25 Introduced in the Senate on May 28, 2014 26 Adopted by the General Assembly on May 28, 2014 27 28 Summary: Corporal William Carpenter 29 30 31 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 32 33 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 34 5/27/2014 House Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate ( House Journalpage 80) 35 5/28/2014 Senate Introduced, adopted, returned with concurrence ( Senate Journalpage 15) 36 37 38 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 39 40 5/27/2014 41 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 10 11 TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR CORPORAL WILLIAM 12 “KYLE” CARPENTER, UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS 13 (RET.), OF LEXINGTON ON RECEIVING THE MEDAL OF 14 HONOR, THE NATION’S HIGHEST AWARD FOR VALOR; 15 TO THANK HIM FOR HIS FAITHFUL MILITARY SERVICE; 16 AND TO COMMEND HIM FOR HIS HEROIC ACTIONS 17 WHILE SERVING A TOUR OF DUTY IN AFGHANISTAN. 18 19 Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, 20 on behalf of all South Carolinians, acknowledge with deep 21 appreciation the great sacrifice that the men and women of the 22 United States Armed Forces make for the ideals of freedom and 23 justice, which are so richly enjoyed in this nation; and 24 25 Whereas, Lexington’s Corporal William “Kyle” Carpenter, United 26 States Marine Corps (Ret.), stands high among those servicemen 27 and women so honored by their country; and 28 29 Whereas, on June 19, 2014, President Barack Obama will award 30 Corporal Carpenter the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry 31 while serving as an automatic rifleman with Company F, 2d 32 Battalion, 9th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st Marine 33 Division (Forward), I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), in 34 Helmand Province, Afghanistan; and 35 36 Whereas, the award comes to him for his courageous actions on 37 November 21, 2010, during a combat engagement in Afghanistan 38 supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. At that time, thenLance 39 Corporal Carpenter with his own body shielded a fellow Marine 40 from a grenade explosion, thus saving his comrade’s life while 41 suffering extensive wounds that nearly took his own; and 42

[5299] 2 1 Whereas, Corporal Carpenter, only the eighth living recipient to be 2 awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan, 3 with his family will join the President at the White House to 4 commemorate his example of selfless service; and 5 6 Whereas, born in Flowood, Mississippi, on October 17, 1989, Kyle 7 Carpenter graduated from Batesburg’s W. Wyman King Academy 8 in 2008. In February 2009, he enlisted in the United States Marine 9 Corps at Recruiting Station Columbia and later that same year 10 completed his basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris 11 Island; and 12 13 Whereas, due to his wounds from the grenade attack in 14 Afghanistan, Kyle Carpenter was medically retired in July 2013 as 15 a corporal. He is currently a fulltime student at the University of 16 South Carolina in Columbia; and 17 18 Whereas, in recognition of his exemplary military service, 19 Corporal Carpenter previously has been awarded the Purple Heart 20 Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and the 21 Combat Action Ribbon. Additional awards and decorations include 22 the Navy Unit Commendation, Marine Corps Good Conduct 23 Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign 24 Medal with one bronze campaign star, Global War on Terrorism 25 Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with one bronze 26 star, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Medal ISAF for 27 Afghanistan, and Rifle Sharpshooter Badge; and 28 29 Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly counts it a great 30 privilege to salute Corporal Kyle Carpenter, and the members with 31 one voice offer their grateful thanks to Almighty God for the 32 service and sacrifice of this heroic son of liberty. Now, therefore, 33 34 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate 35 concurring: 36 37 That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this 38 resolution, recognize and honor Corporal William “Kyle” 39 Carpenter, United States Marine Corps (Ret.), of Lexington on 40 receiving the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor; 41 thank him for his faithful military service; and commend him for 42 his heroic actions while serving a tour of duty in Afghanistan. 43

[5299] 3 1 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to 2 Corporal William “Kyle” Carpenter, United States Marine Corps 3 (Ret.). 4 XX 5

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