October 21, 2022
By News Director Jared Atha
A local hero returned to his roots on Friday.
Master Sergeant Earl Plumlee, a Merritt graduate, was in Elk City Friday where he was honored before a large crowd at the recently opened Arrowhead Activity Center.
Plumlee was recently awarded the Medal of Honor by President Joe Biden for the actions he took as he engaged insurgents at a U.S. base near Ghazni, Afghanistan on August 28, 2013.
Speaking exclusively with Paragon Communications, Plumlee talks about returning home to Elk City – a place he has sparingly visited since graduating Merritt High School in 2000.
Plumlee joined the Oklahoma Army National Guard in 1998, and following his high school graduation, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served until 2008. In 2009, he enlisted in the U.S. Army.
Plumlee said after receiving the Medal of Honor last December, he did what most Americans do: went back to work.
Plumlee currently serves as a Senior Weapons Sergeant with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Forces Group at Fort Lewis, Washington.
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