Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer , who sued a U.K.-based arms manufacturer and his former supervisor for defamation, abruptly dropped the action Thursday with little explanation.
On the same day Meyer filed a dismissal of the suit, lodged in San Antonio in late November, the Marine Corps denied accusations that it embellished an account of the 2009 battle that led to President Barack Obama giving the former sergeant the nation's highest award for gallantry.
A Corps statement said that Meyer, the Marines' first living Medal of Honor recipient since the Vietnam War, rightly deserved the honor, and White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama was very proud to present the medal to Meyer.
Everyone, even the reporter who wrote yesterday's article, agrees that Sgt. Meyer displayed extraordinary heroism, Carney said in a briefing.
Indeed, a subsequent article, within I think hours, by that same reporter last night makes it clear that Meyer's comrades feel he deserves the Medal of Honor . President Obama was proud to present it on behalf of a grateful nation, he said.
Even as the White House fielded questions over a McClatchy Newspapers account of the battle, Meyer dropped his suit against BAE Systems OASYS LLC and a former supervisor.
In a joint statement, Meyer said he and the company had settled our differences amicably, and that he also had dropped the suit against his former supervisor, Bobby McCreight. I wish the best for Bobby and a successful future supporting our troops, he said.
BAE in turn said it had the highest respect for Sgt. Dakota Meyer, who exemplifies the qualities that make the men and women of our armed services the best in the world.
Meyer's Austin-based lawyer, McCreight did not issue a statement and Meyer did not return a phone call Thursday. A lawyer for McCreight, Ricardo Cedillo , referred a reporter to Meyer's statement, which states that he settled amicably with BAE.
Those words are not found in Mr. Meyer's statement that he is dropping his lawsuit against Bobby McCreight, Cedillo added.
Meyer sued for defamation after clashing with McCreight over the possible sale of a sophisticated thermal optic scope. The company had sought government permits to send 20 of the scopes to Pakistan for a demonstration. Meyer said he believed the scopes were to be sold, and he objected, saying they could be used by the enemy.
Meyer's suit said McCreight cost him a prospective job by claiming he was mentally unstable, did not perform his tasks and had a problem related to drinking in a social setting. Nesbitt wouldn't say why his client dropped the suit.
I'm not able to answer those kinds of questions, Nesbitt said. I can't answer it. The statements are going to have to speak for themselves.
The action came amid a firestorm sparked by the McClatchy account written by a correspondent who was at the battle.
The report alleged that the Marine Corps made untrue, unsubstantiated or exaggerated statements concerning Meyer's actions, but the corps disputed the claim, saying it is normal for minor discrepancies to appear in such incidents.
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