PBS高端访谈:荣誉勋章得主在战友的见证下戴上了勋章

 　　GWEN IFILL: And, finally tonight, an extraordinary honor for an extraordinary deed.

　　Jeffrey Brown has our story.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: By November 2010, U.S. Marines were nine months into the first big push of President Obama's Afghan surge to retake Marjah, a Taliban- held district of Southern Helmand Province.

　　Lance Corporal Kyle Carpenter was 21, part of F Company, 2nd Battalion², 9th Marines.

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.), Medal of Honor Recipient³: We were tasked with pushing south into an enemy stronghold territory. And it was pretty simple. I mean, we were just tasked with taking over a new compound.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: But things didn't quite go that easily, right? The enemy was getting closer and closer?

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): They were. We knew it was going to be bad. We knew we were probably going to take casualties. We didn't know how bad, but, when we got down there and, very shortly after moving in, got our first grenade attack, it became even more real than what we had anticipated.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: More real. Tell me, what does that mean?

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): Well, I mean, up until that point, for months and months, our worries were IEDs, stepping on IEDs, and pretty much from sun up to sundown on most days, we were in firefights.

　　Usually, it was very uncommon⁴ to see hand grenades, because those are very — more of a hand-to-hand, you know, very short-range-type weapon. So for them to get that close, really no fault of our own…

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And that tells you how close they were.

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): Very — yes, sir.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: The Marines knew it was a question of when, not if, grenades would be thrown on their position. On November 21, it happened.

　　Carpenter was stationed on a rooftop with a fellow Marine¹ when the grenade landed. He dove on it to save the life of Lance Corporal Nick Eufrazio.

　　So, how much do you remember about what happened on that day when you were wounded?

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): Well, it's kind of opposite what most people think. I don't really remember anything of the entire day, and especially the moments leading up to being injured by the grenade.

　　All I remember is a few brief seconds before I went unconscious after I was injured.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Carpenter had absorbed much of the blast. His arms were mangled⁵, his jaw⁶ and mouth nearly destroyed. His skull⁷ was fractured. He lost his right eye, and had a collapsed⁸ lung. He was losing massive amounts of blood.

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): I couldn't really hear anything, and my vision was if you were looking at a TV and it didn't have cable hooked up to it, and it was just that white and gray static look. The next thing I remembered is feeling like warm water was being poured all over me from the blood that had started to come out.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And that was your blood?

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): Yes, sir.

　　And then, after — after that, I thought about my family and how devastated⁹ and upset they were going to be that I was killed in Afghanistan.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: You were realizing at that moment that you might well die? CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): Very much.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Carpenter flatlined in the medevac chopper. When he arrived at the field hospital, he was labeled PEA, patient expired on arrival, so grievous were his wounds.

　　What lay ahead was another grueling campaign for Carpenter, two-and-a-half years in hospitals and rehabilitation¹⁰, dozens of surgeries, painful reconstructions¹¹ and skin grafts¹². He says it got him down.

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): But that was just a few times, going into the pre-op, something I had done so many times, and getting stuck here and getting stuck there and knowing you're going to be all cut up and bandaged up and hurting when you get out.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: You had to learn to do a lot of things again, right, normal everyday things, from walking to brushing your teeth.

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): Well, starting out, my mom brushed my teeth for a long time. And then, kind of when I got to be able to do it, I would.

　　And then months and months down the road, I finally learned how to put my socks on, so I started doing that. So it's still definitely a learning process, I mean, just this past week, you know, doing things that you learn how to make it happen.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Really, even up to today? What about the physical scars? Was that hard to get used to changes in the way you looked or maybe even the way that people looked at you?

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): No, one, because my time at Walter Reed really helped me, being with all the other injured military service members that I was.

　　And it's never really been hard. I look at it more as, if I have to have these scars, I got them in defense¹³ of our nation and raising my right hand and volunteering to go into harm's way for people back here at home, just like everybody else in the military does. So I would say I'm more proud of them.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Really?

　　His extraordinary courage and sacrifice had not gone unnoticed, Carpenter's name was put forward by his commanders for the Medal of Honor. And this past February, he received a phone call from the president.

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Based on the recommendation of the secretary of Navy and secretary of defense, I have approved the award of the Medal of Honor to you.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: When you first learned you would be receiving it, you struggled a bit with it. Why?

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): I'm supposed to wear this medal when, every day, I would go down to the cafeteria in the building I lived at, at Walter Reed, and me and all my Marine buddies¹⁴ would be there, and you look around and you see one or two quadruple amputees, guys that have no limbs.

　　And I'm sitting here getting ready to be honored in front of the entire nation. But…

　　JEFFREY BROWN: That can be hard.

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): I did struggle at first, but now I have the mind-set of, I can wear it for them, and I can try to do good things for them, and, really, I guess my honor is their honor.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And earlier this afternoon at the White House, Carpenter became the third Marine and 15th overall recipient since 9/11 of the nation's highest military honor for conspicuous¹⁵ gallantry.

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The man you see before you today, Corporal William Kyle Carpenter, should not be alive today.

　　But we are here because this man, this United States Marine, faced down that terrible explosive power.

　　You'll notice that Kyle doesn't hide his scars; he's proud of them, and the service that they represent. And, now, he tells me this, and so I'm just quoting him — he says, the girls definitely like them.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: So he's kind of — he's working an angle on this thing.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to say that in front of mom.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: But there's a quote there.

　　Anybody who has had a chance to get to know this young man knows you're not going to get a better example of what you want in an American or a Marine.

　　Keep in mind, at the time, Kyle was just 21 years old. But in that instant, he fulfilled those words of Scripture¹⁶: Greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: A number of Carpenter's family members, friends, and comrades looked on. One not there was the man he saved. Nick Eufrazio suffered brain damage in the grenade attack and remains¹⁷ disabled.

　　These days, 24-year-old Kyle Carpenter speaks to young audiences about his experiences. And he's in school himself, a psychology¹⁸ major at the University of South Carolina.

　　This all happened to you when you were so young. You're still so young. Does it make you feel like you have a — I don't know, a second lease on life or a mission for the rest of your life?

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): It has made me really want to experience and I guess feel life every single day.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Feel life?

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): Mm-hmm. I mean, just things like driving around with the windows down in my car, or the doors off, which drives my mom crazy, but just simple things like…

　　JEFFREY BROWN: You're still her young son, right?

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

　　Just simple things like that, if it's something new or something that, you know, is going to get me excited or get the adrenaline going or whatever it is to make me really feel like I am really making this second chance that I have been blessed with worth it, I absolutely do that, and I try to do everything I can.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: I understand you're even skydiving now.

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): I have once. I'm still letting mom recover from the first time. And then I will do the second one.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, you're being honored as a hero. Do you feel like a hero?

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): No, sir.

　　I feel like I'm on an even playing field and an even platform with everybody else, awards or not, with everybody else that raised their right hand and said, you know, I will going into harm's way.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, Corporal Kyle Carpenter, thanks so much for talking to us.

　　And on behalf of all of us at the NewsHour, we wish you the very best.

　　CPL. KYLE CARPENTER (RET.): Thank you very much. I appreciate your time.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: They don't come any finer.

　　GWEN IFILL: That's why they call it conspicuous gallantry.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: That's right.

　　And we have an extended interview with Corporal Carpenter. You can watch that on our Rundown.

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

3 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

4 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

5 mangled   

vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• His hand was mangled in the machine. 他的手卷到机器里轧烂了。
• He was off work because he'd mangled his hand in a machine. 他没上班，因为他的手给机器严重压伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

7 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

9 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

10 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

11 reconstructions   

重建( reconstruction的名词复数 )； 再现； 重建物； 复原物

参考例句：

• Multicolored reconstructions have been formed using (black and white) volume holographic plates. 利用黑白体积全息片已经做成了彩色重建象。
• The method gives ways to evaluate collision speed in traffic accident reconstructions. 该模型为交通事故再现推算碰撞速度提供了有效实用的方法。

12 grafts   

移植( graft的名词复数 )； 行贿； 接穗； 行贿得到的利益

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。
• Her burns were treated with skin grafts. 她的烧伤是用植皮方法进行治疗的。

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

14 buddies   

n.密友( buddy的名词复数 )；同伴；弟兄；（用于称呼男子，常带怒气）家伙v.（如密友、战友、伙伴、弟兄般）交往( buddy的第三人称单数 )；做朋友；亲近（…）；伴护艾滋病人

参考例句：

• We became great buddies. 我们成了非常好的朋友。 来自辞典例句
• The two of them have become great buddies. 他们俩成了要好的朋友。 来自辞典例句

15 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

16 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。