Medal of Honor winner constantly asks 'What have I done today?'

LIBERTY — “The American dream is still alive. This is the only place in the world where you can go from poverty to president in one generation.”

Those were the words of Dakota Meyer, a Marine Corps veteran who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Ganjgal in Afghanistan on Sept. 8, 2009. Team members with Toyota Battery in Liberty heard from him on Aug. 5.

Toyota Battery provided the following information about Meyer: “During a six-hour battle, Meyer repeatedly entered an active ambush area under heavy enemy fire to evacuate wounded personnel and recover fallen service members. His actions helped save the lives of US and Afghan personnel and earned him the nation’s highest military decoration.”

After leaving the Marines, Meyer became an ambassador for Toyota, giving talks all over the country. He speaks about leadership and making the world a better place. 

As for receiving the Medal of Honor, Meyer said his actions were “not an end. I ask myself, ‘What have I done today?’ Nothing is forever.”

He answered a question about fear.

“What was your scariest moment?” asked a team member.

“Fear is made up,” Meyer replied. 

“It’s 100 percent manufactured. It’s what you’re not willing to give up or to risk.”

But he expanded on that, saying, “Fear is healthy. If you’re fearless, you don’t believe in anything. My biggest fear today is not being with someone when they need me.

“Fear is the opportunity to get better,” Meyer added. “What’s new (and something to fear) is coming down the pike to overcome, get stronger.”

Asked for his advice on leadership, Meyer said, “The teams I was on that were the best, (the leaders) always were accountable.” He said a leader should ask, “Would you follow you? We need people who believe in what they’re doing.

“As a leader, you have to know your people, what makes them go, what bothers them. We’re not in charge of people, we’re responsible for them.”

But you don’t have to be a leader to make things better, he said. “We need people to take care of people. Don’t walk past a problem we can fix. If everybody did that, things would be much better.”

Other maxims from Meyer:

■ “You have to believe before you can achieve.”

■ “All of us want to be needed.”

■ “Leave the world a better place. It’s what we’re here for.”

■ “Doing what’s right is uncompromisable.”

Meyer said he has to ask himself what his motive is for helping others. “I get so much out of doing for others, it’s almost selfish. Am I doing it for others or for myself? But if you can help somebody, you must help somebody.”

Asked about the American spirit, Meyer went back 250 years to the founders of the country. “Seventy people said we’re going to take action,” even though the most advanced military in the world was coming. America, he said, “was built off an idea. It all goes back to community, people willing to stand up.”

Meyer gave credit to the Toyota company and its ideals. “Toyota helped me become who I am. Any time I talk to team members, I’m always honored for that. 

“We’re all in the people business in different uniforms. Toyota is the most like the military — about the people. There are tons of parallels.”

Meyer talked about learning that he was receiving the Medal of Honor. He was on a job pouring concrete when he received a message saying that the president was going to call him. They wanted to call every 15 minutes to be sure they were connected. Meyer told them he was working and only had 30 minutes for lunch.

Eventually, though, he “got the call from President Barack Obama who said I was getting the medal.” He told the president he would accept on one condition: That they sit and drink a beer together. Obama agreed.

“I had a beer in the Rose Garden with President Obama,” Meyer said. When the president said he would not drink all his beer because he was going to give a speech, Meyer said he was thinking to himself, “I drink four or five beers before I give a speech.”

When Meyer was reminded that Purple Heart Day was Aug. 7, he said the day “represents those who have sacrificed. I feel a responsibility that when I raised my right hand (when being sworn into the Marines), it was for the rest of my life. It was an oath to the American people. I don’t know any other way.”