You Are Worth It: Building a Life Worth Fighting For

Kyle Carpenter · Don Yaeger

Oct 2019 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

The youngest living Medal of Honor recipient delivers an unforgettable memoir that "will inspire every reader” (Jim Mattis)

NATIONAL BESTSELLER | A Marine Commandant's Reading List selection

On November 21, 2010, U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Kyle Carpenter was posted atop a building in violent Helmand Province, Afghanistan, when an enemy grenade skittered toward Kyle and fellow Marine Nick Eufrazio. Without hesitation, Kyle chose a path of selfless heroism that few can imagine. He jumped on the grenade, saving Nick but sacrificing his own body.  

Kyle Carpenter’s heart flatlined three times while being evacuated off the battlefield in Afghanistan. Yet his spirit was unbroken. Severely wounded from head to toe, Kyle lost his right eye as well as most of his jaw. It would take dozens of surgeries and almost three years in and out of the hospital  to reconstruct his body. From there, he began the process of rebuilding his life. What he has accomplished in the last nine years is extraordinary: he’s come back a stronger, better, wiser person.

In 2014, Kyle was awarded the nation’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his “singular act of courage” on that rooftop in Afghanistan, an action which had been reviewed exhaustively by the military. Kyle became the youngest living recipient of the award–and only the second living Marine so honored since Vietnam.

Kyle’s remarkable memoir reveals a central truth that will inspire every reader: Life is worth everything we’ve got. It is the story of how one man became a so-called hero who willingly laid down his life for his brother-in-arms—and equally, it is a story of rebirth, of how Kyle battled back from the gravest challenge to forge a life of joyful purpose.

You Are Worth It is a memoir about the war in Afghanistan and Kyle’s heroics, and it is also a manual for living. Organized around the credos that have guided Kyle’s life (from “Don’t Hide Your Scars” to “Call Your Mom”), the book encourages us to become our best selves in the time we’ve been given on earth. Above all, it’s about finding purpose, regardless of the hurdles that may block our way. Moving and unforgettable, You Are Worth It is an astonishing memoir from one of our most extraordinary young leaders.

Ratings and reviews

As a Marine veteran, this book has helped me so much. I have read the whole thing once and have read pieces of it so many times when I want his perspective on something. This book gave me the mindset of if this Marine can have the heart to keep fighting for absolutely everything so can I.

Moving, Encouraging, Transparent and Honest. Thank you for your service Kyle, and to those next two you in the line of fire and those who battled for you that allowed for this story to be shared.

As a Marine(POG),it was incredible to read and hit home in a different way. This incredible story proves that the Marine Corps (and United States Military in general) is the best in the world.At my duty station we have Kyle Carpenter's Medal of Honor citation hanging on our wall in our shop.

About the author

Kyle Carpenter was born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1989. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2009 and served as a Squad Automatic Weapon gunner in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. In June 2014, Carpenter was awarded the Medal of Honor, and in 2017, he graduated from the University of South Carolina with a BA in international studies.

Don Yaeger is an eleven-time New York Times best-selling author, longtime associate editor at Sports Illustrated, and award-winning inspirational speaker. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with his wife, son, and daughter.