Bristol Palin Announces Engagement to Afghanistan War Hero Dakota Meyer
Teen pregnancy spokesperson, best-selling author and reality TV personality Bristol Palin has just announced her engagement to former U.S. Marine Dakota Meyer, over the weekend.
Bristol Palin, the eldest daughter of 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has posted news of her engagement to former U.S. Marine and decorated Afghanistan war veteran Dakota Meyer, on Facebook Saturday.
Palin, 24, who gained nation-wide notoriety for her teenage pregnancy in 2009 at the age of 18 during the height of her mother's popularity as the ninth Governor of Alaska and a vice presidential candidate, met Meyer, 26 the previous year when he visited Alaska to film "Amazing America" with Sarah Palin.
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Meyer was a recipient of the Medal of Honor in 2011 for saving 36 members of his team from enemy fire in Afghanistan. He proposed to Palin during a Rascal Flatts concert in the middle of a song dedicated to them by lead singer Gary LeVox, Palin wrote on her Facebook feed.
Palin has previously been engaged to her high school boyfriend, Levi Johnston, who fathered her 7-year-old son, Tripp, but broke off the engagement in late 2009.
She has since channeled the media attention she received over her teenage pregnancy to represent young mothers like herself as a speaker for The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. In 2009, Candie's Foundation named her Teen Pregnancy Prevention Ambassador, hiring her as a paid spokesperson for teen pregnancy prevention.
Palin also had a stint on the 2010 fall season of "Dancing With The Stars," emerging third place during the summer of the following year, and starred in a reality show based on her single motherhood on the Lifetime Channel's "Bristol Palin: Life's a Tripp." Her memoir, "Not Afraid of Life: My Journey so Far" became a New York Times bestseller in 2011.
