11-13-2006, 19:03
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#1
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: America, the Beautiful
Posts: 3,193
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Marine Is Awarded Medal Of Honor
Wall Street Journal
November 11, 2006
Pg. 4
Selfless Courage: Marine Is Awarded Medal Of Honor
Cpl. Dunham Loses Life Saving His Comrades; 'I'm Always Reminded of It'
By Michael M. Phillips
QUANTICO, Va. -- Cpl. Jason Dunham, a charismatic kid from small-town America, received the Medal of Honor for sacrificing himself to protect his fellow Marines from an Iraqi hand grenade.
President George W. Bush announced the award -- the country's highest honor for military valor -- at the opening of the Marine Corps museum here yesterday. It would have been Cpl. Dunham's 25th birthday.
"As far back as boot camp, his superiors spotted the quality that would mark this young American as an outstanding Marine: His willingness to put the needs of others before his own," Mr. Bush said. "As long as we have Marines like Cpl. Dunham, America will never fear for its liberty."
On patrol on April 14, 2004, Cpl. Dunham found himself engaged in hand-to-hand combat with an insurgent near the Syrian border. When his attacker dropped a live hand grenade, the Marine made the split-second decision to cover the weapon with his own helmet, shielding two of his men from its full explosive force.
The other Marines staggered away from the blast, injured but alive. Cpl. Dunham suffered deep shrapnel wounds to the brain. He survived eight days in a coma, only to die with his parents at his bedside. He was 22 years old.
"There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it," said Cpl. William Hampton, one of the Marines fighting beside Cpl. Dunham when the grenade exploded. The explosion left Cpl. Hampton, a 24-year-old from Woodinville, Wash., peppered with shrapnel. "I see my arms, I see my leg. I'm always reminded of it."
Cpl. Dunham grew up in Scio, a one-stoplight town in western New York. His father, Dan Dunham, works in a nearby factory; his mother, Deb Dunham, teaches home economics. Jason was the oldest of four children and a star athlete, with a winning grin and a natural kindness.
He was an eager volunteer when the Marine recruiter spotted him at the local Kmart before his senior year in high school. Soon his lead-from-the-front approach won him the admiration of those above and below him, and he was given command of a 10-man infantry squad when his unit -- Kilo Co., Third Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment -- deployed in early 2004 to the hostile desert towns of Husaybah, al Qa'im and Karabilah.
Due to complete his enlistment that July, Cpl. Dunham extended his service by several months to remain in Iraq through the battalion's entire combat tour because, as he told a friend at the time, "I want to make sure everyone makes it home alive."
In the days after he was injured, Cpl. Dunham passed through a series of military hospitals and underwent brain surgery. He never, however, awoke from his coma. His parents met him at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., expecting to spend months nursing their son back to health. Instead, doctors told them that the damage was too severe and that the corporal would never again understand the world around him. Following the instructions Cpl. Dunham left in his living will, the Dunhams authorized the doctors to remove him from life support.
"In the end, Cpl. Dunham, you proved that one man can make a difference," his former company commander, Maj. Trent Gibson, said in June at a ceremony renaming Scio's post office after the fallen Marine. "You proved to be utterly selfless, uniquely compassionate, and absolutely committed to your men...You were that which we all strived to be. And you were somehow more pure."
A photo of the shredded remains of the corporal's helmet was among the pieces of evidence the battalion included when it nominated the corporal for the Medal of Honor shortly after he died.
Cpl. Dunham's life and death were chronicled in a page-one story in The Wall Street Journal on May 25, 2004.
The award is often called the Congressional Medal of Honor because Congress authorized it during the Civil War. Including Cpl. Dunham's, 3,462 medals have been awarded, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Cpl. Dunham's is the second awarded for gallantry in the Iraq war. The first went to Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, who was killed while manning a machine gun against scores of Iraqi soldiers at Baghdad's airport in April 2003.
The president is expected to present the medal itself to Cpl. Dunham's parents at a White House ceremony at a later date.
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Warrior-Mentor is offline
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11-13-2006, 19:13
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#2
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Consigliere
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland (at last)
Posts: 8,821
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Semper Fi and RIP.
Did Chontosh ever get it or was he limited to a Navy Cross?
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Roguish Lawyer is offline
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11-13-2006, 19:15
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#3
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Area Commander
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Delaware
Posts: 1,425
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God bless him and men like him. Rest in peace young man.
__________________
You ask; What is our policy? I will say; “It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.” You ask; What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.-Winston Churchill
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Goggles Pizano is offline
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11-13-2006, 19:23
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#4
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Area Commander
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Midwest
Posts: 7,131
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer
Did Chontosh ever get it or was he limited to a Navy Cross?
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The Navy Cross.
RIP Cpl Dunham...you will not be forgotten. Semper Fidelis.
__________________
My Heroes wear camouflage.
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Gypsy is offline
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11-13-2006, 19:47
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#5
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 198
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RIP, Warrior.
__________________
"Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one."
Bruce Lee
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Texian is offline
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11-13-2006, 19:53
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#6
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Asset
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NY/CT
Posts: 27
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RIP my brother.
Semper Fi.
You are a true hero and leader of Marines.
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SgtUSMC8541 is offline
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11-13-2006, 20:18
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#7
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: In transit somewhere
Posts: 4,044
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RIP Warrior - HooRah!
__________________
In the business of war, there is no invariable stategic advantage (shih) which can be relied upon at all times.
Sun-Tzu, "The Art of Warfare"
Hearing, I forget. Seeing, I remember. Writing (doing), I understand. Chinese Proverb
Too many people are looking for a magic bullet. As always, shot placement is the key. ~TR
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x SF med is offline
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11-13-2006, 21:17
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#8
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Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Pinehurst,NC
Posts: 1,091
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No greater love. RIP Marine.
__________________
Let us conduct ourselves in such a fashion that all nations wish to be our friends and all fear to be our enemies. The Virtues of War - Steven Pressfield
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dennisw is offline
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11-13-2006, 21:19
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#9
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Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Colorado
Posts: 1,205
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Hero!
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CoLawman is offline
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11-13-2006, 21:46
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#10
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Area Commander
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: No. VA, USA
Posts: 1,095
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Rest in Peace, Marine.
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vsvo is offline
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11-13-2006, 23:29
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#11
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SF Candidate
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Columbus, GA
Posts: 56
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Selfless service at it's best. RIP Marine.
__________________
"See you on the high ground"
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Simple Simon is offline
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11-14-2006, 07:53
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#12
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: South Georiga
Posts: 797
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A real HERO!
Jim
__________________
Breaking a law or violation of a regulation is not a mistake. It is willful misconduct.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." [Samuel Adams]
Jim
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incommin is offline
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11-14-2006, 09:48
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#13
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Fort Bragg, NC
Posts: 114
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RIP, Warrior.
__________________
"You are undoubtedly familiar with men who are quiet and strong and seem to be doing nothing. They do not appear to be tense and do not appear to be in disarray. They simply appear. This is exactly the appearance for which they strive. When it is necessary to attack, they do so with complete resolve, sure of themselves, neither overbearing in attitude nor with false humility. They attack with one purpose and one purpose only, to destroy the enemy." --- Miyamoto Musashi
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stakk4 is offline
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11-14-2006, 12:06
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#14
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Asset
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Wilkes County NC
Posts: 20
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Rest in peace Marine.
I am going to read this at our Marine Corps League meeting tonight.
Semper Fi
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AGaillard is offline
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11-14-2006, 15:06
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#15
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Area Commander
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: JBLM
Posts: 1,246
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Rest in Peace Marine, Semper Fidelis
__________________
http://teamrwb.com/
"Let the blood of the infantry flow through your veins,or the blood of the infantry will be on your hands."
- GEN John A. Wickham, Jr. speaking on the responsibilities of MI soldiers.
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jbour13 is offline
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