Honor Our Nation's Heroes Featuring: Kyle Carpenter

Program Overview

During the program on Saturday, November 7, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will host Medal of Honor Recipient Kyle Carpenter.

• Free Admission and parking for Veterans and 1 guest (all day) to visit the museum
  • Valid November 1st-15th for veterans and active military
• This year's program will be virtual and will air on the HOF's Facebook page

About Special Guest of Honor

William “Kyle” Carpenter was born in Flowood, Mississippi on October 17, 1989, and attended high school at W. Wyman King Academy, Batesburg, South Carolina, graduating in 2008.  In February 2009, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at Recruiting Station Columbia, South Carolina, and completed his basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, later that year. 

One month after his 21st birthday, Kyle was in Marjah, Afghanistan on a hot, dusty rooftop with his fellow Marine and friend on a lookout position. In a blink of an eye, Kyle was disoriented from an enemy grenade blast as the blood loss began to take his consciousness. He died once on the medical evacuation, again at the first hospital and a third time at Walter Reed but five weeks after that day on the roof, Kyle opened his eyes in Washington, D.C. and began his second chance.....his bonus round at life. 

Kyle spent three years at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda Maryland, where he endured roughly forty surgeries to reconstruct his body.

In 2014, Kyle was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama. Nine years after his ‘alive day,’ Kyle pushes himself daily to make the most of his second chance. He believes in jumping out of airplanes, running marathons, taking chances and doing anything that makes his heart pound in his chest.

In 2017 Kyle graduated with a degree in International Studies from the University of South Carolina. Since graduating college, Kyle has authored a bestselling book, You Are Worth It: Building A Life Worth Fighting For, which he wrote to help people through their own life struggles and to make them see what's extraordinary in themselves.