The architect’s name was William Kyle Carpenter. You might not be familiar with him by name, but there is no denying that he is a true American hero.

Kyle enlisted in the US Marine Corps at the age of 21, receiving the rank of Lance Corporal. He was assigned to a mission in Afghanistan in 2010.

A grenade that was dropped during a skirmish landed close to where Kyle and another Marine were engaged in combat. Kyle didn’t wait a second before taking action.

It was a split-second decision that demonstrated Kyle’s fortitude while also having the potential to permanently change the trajectory of his life. Kyle dove on top of his friend and used his body as a shield to protect him from the grenade’s detonation.

He made the ultimate sacrifice by sacrificing his life to save a Marine comrade.

He was critically injured as a direct result of the explosion that followed. The explosion had broken the bones in his head and face, and his body was covered with shrapnel. In addition, Kyle lost a piece of his jaw, had one of his lungs collapse, and when he arrived to Camp Bastion, he was given the label of “patient expired on arrival.”

Kyle was forced to go through a total of forty different surgeries over the course of the following two years. President Barack Obama also presented him with the prestigious Medal of Honor in addition to the Purple Heart in honor of his bravery.

Since that time, Kyle has put his military career on hold in order to focus on his studies at the University of South Carolina.

A true hero in America. The following video will go into more depth about Kyle’s experience: