Medal of Honor Marine Dakota Meyer helping veterans

In this interview Dakota Meyer proved once again how humble he is.

"Look at it like this—you take the worst day of your life, and everybody wants to recognize you for the worst day of your life."

After the Medal of Honor service is over, we don't usually hear much about them. Dakota Meyer is doing what many of them did after "the worst day" of their lives. He kept serving others. It is part of the reason he was able to risk his life to save others. He cares. Meyer is showing he still cares about the men and women serving this nation and that care did not end just because they came home.

Marine Dakota Meyer Steps Up to Help Veterans Find Success Back Home
US News Aug 15, 2012

Dakota Meyer, the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War, talks about war, coming home, his new project to help veterans land jobs—and why time hasn’t healed him.

Dakota Meyer is the only person who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to receive the Medal of Honor, and the first living Marine to do so since the Vietnam War. (Luke Sharrett / Getty Images)

Dakota Meyer, a United States Marine Corps veteran who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration, for his bravery that saved the lives of U.S. service members and Afghan soldiers facing a savage ambush in eastern Afghanistan. He is the only person who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to receive the medal to date, and the first living Marine to do so since the Vietnam War.

Meyer spoke to Daily Beast editor Harry Siegel on Tuesday about his service, his difficult homecoming—detailed in his book, Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War, including a suicide attempt a year after the battle of Ganjgal—and his new project with Toyota and the Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes initiative to create a personal branding guide to help veterans translate their skills into terms that appeal to civilian employers.

Look at it like this—you take the worst day of your life, and everybody wants to recognize you for the worst day of your life. You feel like a compete failure and you’re getting the nation’s highest award. I accepted the award not for me but for all the guys who died that day, for all the men and women who have passed before, and for all the men and women still serving now.

It’s all about opportunity and holding yourself accountable with that and going out and trying to make a difference.

That’s why we teamed up with the Toyota and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to go out and make a difference and help get veterans jobs. We just launched the personal branding initiative to try and give veterans another tool in their toolbox, to set them up for success when reaching out to a potential employer.

You take my experience, for example. I was a sniper in the Marine Corps, and I tell you I put that on my résumé. I don’t know if anybody knows this, but there aren’t too many corporations around with a high need for snipers. So how can you break that down and translate it to the civilian world, for the everyday person?

Shooting was only 10 percent of my job. I was also a team leader. I was able to manage troops: accountability, discipline, teamwork, being on time, logistics are all things I can translate into being an asset to an employer. read more here