More Than a Video Game: Why Kyle Carpenter’s Story Belongs in Call of Duty

1 hour ago
4 min read

By Annette Whittenberger

I’ll start by saying this: I am not a gamer.

My son is, though.

And I know plenty of people in our military and veteran community who are.

So when I saw that retired U.S. Marine Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter, a Medal of Honor recipient, will be featured as a playable character in the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, I stopped and paid attention.

Not because I suddenly understand Call of Duty.

I don’t.

What interested me was what this represents.

This Is a Real Story Behind a Virtual Character

Kyle Carpenter is not a fictional military hero created for entertainment.

He is a real Marine with a very real story.

On November 21, 2010, Carpenter was serving in Marjah, Afghanistan, when a grenade landed near him and fellow Marine Nick Eufrazio during an enemy attack.

Carpenter moved toward the grenade in an attempt to shield his fellow Marine from the blast.

He survived catastrophic injuries and endured an extensive recovery. In 2014, President Barack Obama presented him with the Medal of Honor, our nation’s highest military decoration.

Now his name and likeness will enter another world entirely: gaming.

Activision has announced that Carpenter will be featured in the Call of Duty Endowment Valor Pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, which launches October 23, 2026.

And I think that is worth talking about.

Storytelling Does Not Always Look the Way We Expect

I spend a lot of time talking about the importance of telling our stories.

Veterans’ stories.

Military-family stories.

Stories of service, sacrifice, survival, struggle and what happens after the uniform comes off.

For a long time, when we thought about preserving military history, we thought about books, museums, documentaries, ceremonies and memorials.

Those things are incredibly important.

But our world has changed.

Today, storytelling also happens through podcasts, social media, music, film—and yes, video games.

Millions of people play Call of Duty.

Some of them are veterans.

Some are currently serving.

Some grew up in military families.

And some may have absolutely no connection to the military at all.

That last group may be the most important.

Because what happens if a young person chooses Kyle Carpenter as a character and then becomes curious enough to search his name?

What if that leads them to learn what the Medal of Honor represents?

What if they read about Afghanistan?

What if they learn that the person represented on their screen nearly lost his life protecting another Marine?

That matters.

Meeting the Next Generation Where They Are

Sometimes we get so focused on how history should be taught that we forget to pay attention to where people are actually spending their time.

I may not be sitting down with a controller anytime soon, but my son might.

So might millions of other people.

If we truly want future generations to understand military service and remember the people behind our history, then perhaps we also have to be willing to meet them where they are.

That does not mean turning sacrifice into entertainment.

There is an important difference.

It means finding responsible ways to introduce real people and real stories into spaces where younger generations are already engaged.

When it is done respectfully, that can be powerful.

There Is Another Part of This Story Worth Knowing

The Valor Pack is connected to the Call of Duty Endowment, an organization focused on helping veterans find quality civilian employment after military service.

According to Activision, the organization has helped place more than 150,000 veterans into civilian careers since it was created in 2009.

That part of the story stood out to me too.

Because transitioning out of the military is another chapter we do not talk about enough.

Service does not end simply because someone takes off the uniform.

Veterans still have to figure out who they are next, where they belong and how years of military experience translate into civilian life.

If something created in the entertainment world can also help veterans make that transition, I think that deserves recognition.

More Than Entertainment

For me, this story is not really about Call of Duty.

It is about remembrance.

It is about representation.

It is about telling military stories in places we may not traditionally expect to find them.

And it reminds me that preserving our history does not mean telling stories the exact same way generation after generation.

Sometimes a story lives in a book.

Sometimes it lives in a documentary.

Sometimes it lives through a veteran sitting down and telling someone what happened.

And sometimes, unexpectedly, it appears inside a video game.

If that causes even one person to stop, search Kyle Carpenter’s name and learn what he did on November 21, 2010, then perhaps that story has reached someone who might never have heard it otherwise.

And that is something worth talking about.

What do you think?

If you are a gamer, a veteran, a military family member—or all three—I would especially like to hear your perspective.

Do you think including real service members and veterans in games like Call of Duty helps preserve their stories and introduce military history to a new generation?