Gamers looking for some online heroism in the new “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4” this October will get a chance to play as a real-life Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor in Afghanistan.
“Call of Duty” developer Activision and the Call of Duty Endowment announced Friday that the new game will offer a Valor Pack with Kyle Carpenter as a playable character. Carpenter was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2014 after he leaped on a grenade to save fellow Marines during fierce fighting in Afghanistan.
The day-one DLC package comes out the same day as the game, Oct. 23. A social media post on the pack features video of Carpenter working on the pack with will aid the The Call of Duty Endowment, a nonprofit supported by Activision aimed at helping veterans place into high-quality jobs.
The announcement video featured Carpenter having his likeness 360-degree scanned as well as a preview of how his model looks in the game. One quick look shows a digital Carpenter, in full combat gear and wearing sunglasses, signaling for others to advance.
Heroism in Marjah
In November 2010, Carpenter was serving with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment at Marjah, in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. Then-Lance Cpl. Carpenter was on a rooftop security post alongside his friend Lance Cpl Nick Eufrazio when the site came under attack, with hand grenades. One landed at Carpenter and Eufrazio’s position.
“Without hesitation, and with complete disregard for his own safety, Lance Corporal Carpenter moved toward the grenade in an attempt to shield his fellow Marine from the deadly blast,” Carpenter’s Medal of Honor citation says. “When the grenade detonated, his body absorbed the brunt of the blast, severely wounding him, but saving the life of his fellow Marine.”
Eufrazio was severely wounded, as was Carpenter. When other Marines found Carpenter, the blast had mangled his right arm and much of his face. His right eye was gone.
“Post-blast, I woke up after five weeks of being unconscious,” Carpenter says in the announcement video. “My teeth were gone, I was missing my eye, extremely injured. No matter how wrecked your world gets, the world keeps spinning.”
As medics rushed to get him evacuated to a hospital, his heart stopped several times. Carpenter spent nearly three years recovering from his injuries and was medically retired in 2013, at the rank of corporal.
A year later, he was presented with the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama. In January 2025, then-Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced that a new Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer will be named after him.
The endowment also puts on the annual Call of Duty Endowment Bowl where the esports teams from the U.S. military as well as British armed forces compete in the first-person shooter.
Carpenter is the latest veteran to lend their likeness to a popular military video game. The first installment of the “Modern Warfare” reboot also supported the Call of Duty Endowment. The Fearless Pack featured an in-game kit based on the one Medal of Honor Recipient and Army veteran Florent “Flo” Groberg wore while on deployment in Afghanistan.
Earlier this year, retired Navy Capt. Chris Cassidy, who served as a SEAL and as a NASA astronaut, worked with and inspired a DLC bundle for “Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.” Three veteran Marines who served in 1st Raider Battalion most recently lent their appearances and did motion capture for characters in the most recent season of “Battlefield 6.”
The post Kyle Carpenter will be a playable character in next ‘Call of Duty’ appeared first on Task & Purpose.
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