Marine Awarded Navy and Marine Corps Medal for Valor

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. -- U.S. Marine Corps Staff. Sgt. Brett D. Meil was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his heroic actions during a ceremony hosted by School of Infantry – West at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Sep. 24, 2024.

Staff Sgt. Brett Meil, a native of Texas, received the Department of the Navy’s highest non-combat award for exceptional bravery and composure during a training incident with a live fragmentation grenade, while serving as the position safety officer, on June 13, 2023.

While executing his responsibilities for a live grenade training, then, Sgt. Meil, instructed his assigned student to prepare an M67 fragmentation grenade for employment. At a critical moment, the student inadvertently released the safety lever while still maintaining control of the grenade, creating a potentially fatal situation. Recognizing the imminent danger, Meil remained calm and repeatedly instructed the young Marine to throw the grenade into the designated target area. Despite the Marine's trepidation and inaction, he continued his efforts to guide and control the situation.Due to inaction on the student's part, Meil forcibly removed the grenade and quickly threw the Marine and himself outside the pit. Without warning, the grenade bounced off the interior wall and landed outside the pit, mere feet from him and his student lying on the ground.