Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter to be playable character in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

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Gamers looking for online heroism in the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, releasing this October, will have the opportunity 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 include a Valor Pack featuring Kyle Carpenter as a playable character. Carpenter received the Medal of Honor in 2014 after leaping on a grenade to save fellow Marines during intense fighting in Afghanistan.

The day-one DLC package launches on the same day as the game, October 23. A social media post promoting the pack includes video of Carpenter working on the content, which will benefit the Call of Duty Endowment—a nonprofit supported by Activision that helps veterans find high-quality jobs.

The announcement video shows Carpenter undergoing a 360-degree scan of his likeness, along with a preview of how his in-game model appears. A quick look reveals 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 in Marjah, Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Then-Lance Cpl. Carpenter was on a rooftop security post alongside his friend Lance Cpl. Nick Eufrazio when the position came under attack with hand grenades. One landed at Carpenter and Eufrazio's location.

"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 states. "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 him, 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 evacuate him 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 hosts the annual Call of Duty Endowment Bowl, where esports teams from the U.S. military and 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 worn by Medal of Honor recipient and Army veteran Florent "Flo" Groberg during his 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 performed motion capture for characters in the most recent season of Battlefield 6.