Second Medal of Honor awarded for the Iraq war

[Gunslinger]

I don't remember this being posted so if it is a repost I'm sorry.


http://www.jasonsmemorial.org/

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2348595.php

President Bush announced Nov. 10 that Cpl. Jason Dunham, who died more than two years ago after covering a grenade with his helmet to save fellow Marines, will receive the Medal of Honor.

Dunham will be the first Marine to receive the award — the nation’s highest award for battlefield heroism — for action in Iraq, and the first leatherneck to earn it since 1970.

Speaking at a dedication ceremony in Quantico, Va., where Marines and other top military and government leaders gathered for the grand opening of the National Museum of the Marine Corps, Bush recounted Dunham’s actions and “his willingness to put the needs of others before his own.”

“On this special birthday, in the company of fellow Marines, I am proud to announce that we will recognize Corporal Dunham’s actions with our highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor,” Bush said, noting that Dunham would have turned 25 that day, and shared a birthday with the Marine Corps. “As long as we have Marines like Corporal Dunham, America will never fear for her liberty.”

The Medal of Honor is typically presented by the president at an Oval Office ceremony at the White House. A Corps press release said the Dunham family and the White House will select a date for the award ceremony.

Dunham, a 22-year-old machine gunner from Scio, N.Y., was manning a checkpoint near Karabilah, near the Syrian border in Iraq, on April 14, 2004.

“While leading a patrol of his Marines in Karabilah, Corporal Dunham received a report that a Marine convoy had been ambushed. He led his squad to the site of the attack — where he and his men stopped a convoy of cars trying to make an escape,” according to the Corps press release. “As he moved to search one of the vehicles, an insurgent jumped out and grabbed him by the throat. The corporal engaged the insurgent in hand-to-hand combat.”

Dunham shouted to the other Marines “No. No. No. Watch his hand.” As the two scuffled, the Iraqi dropped a grenade with the pin removed, and Dunham quickly jumped on it, using his Kevlar helmet and body to smother the blast.

 
Shrapnel pierced Dunham’s skull, and he died eight days later with his parents by his side at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Three of Dunham’s platoon mates with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, suffered shrapnel wounds but survived. Two weeks later, Kilo Marines mourned Dunham at a memorial service held at their camp in Qaim, Iraq.

“He knew what he was doing. He wanted to save Marines’ lives from that grenade,” said Lance Cpl. Jason Sanders, 21, a mortarman, according to a Marine Corps News article.

Dunham’s story was told in a book, “A Gift of Valor,” penned by a Wall Street Journal reporter embedded with 3/7 in spring 2004. The reporter, Michael M. Phillips, wrote in an article just weeks after Dunham’s death that unit leaders had weighed the gravity of his final combat action and the potential recognition of that heroism.

The battalion commander at the time, then-Lt. Col. Matthew Lopez, submitted Dunham’s nomination for the Medal of Honor, noting: “I deeply believe that given the facts and evidence presented, he clearly understood the situation and attempted to block the blast of the grenade from his squad members. His personal action was far beyond the call of duty and saved the lives of his fellow Marines,” Phillips recounted in his article.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., later issued a statement asking the president to award the Medal of Honor to Dunham, noting that his actions “embodied the courage and fortitude that have made the armed forces of the United States the most respected in the world. I can imagine no clearer case of an individual soldier exhibiting the ideals that the Congressional Medal was established to honor.”

Since his death, Dunham’s family and friends have maintained a Web site and a memorial scholarship fund, but largely have stayed on the sidelines as the nomination has run through the deliberate review process.

“Jason would have wanted to earn it on his own,” his mother, Deb Dunham, told Marine Corps Times in September. “We feel he’s earned it.”

Sgt. Maj. Dan Huff, who was 3/7’s battalion sergeant major at the time, said news of the award was “outstanding.”

“I’m very happy to know that it’s been finally approved. It’s been a long process,” said Huff, the top enlisted Marine at Recruiting Station Dallas.

The battalion knew that Dunham’s final act was worthy of broader recognition, and it was just weeks later when Huff and other unit leaders submitted their nomination of him for the nation’s highest combat medal. They compiled witnesses’ statements and other documentation about the actions that day, which came as Dunham’s team raced to the site where Lopez and his convoy had just been ambushed by insurgents.

Dunham, Huff said, “was an outstanding NCO. He epitomized the sacrifices of the young men and women in the armed forces today. It’s good that we are finally getting them recognition for their heroic acts.”

Dunham’s sacrifice epitomizes the Marine.

“It’s why Marines fight. We fight for each other,” Huff said. “He was a very well-respected leader in the battalion. He had the full respect of his men.”

At the museum dedication, audience members were understandably excited about the news.

“[The announcement] couldn’t have happened on a better day,” said former Sgt. Leon McKenna, who traveled from Glenmoore, Pa., with his wife, Judy, for the event. “It’s his birthday, the Marine Corps’ birthday, and he did what he was trained to do, without hesitation.”

“I couldn’t even talk about it, I was so emotional,” Judy said. “That’s what being a Marine is all about. You have to be prepared to give your life, and he was. It was a fitting tribute to him, the Marine Corps and his family.”

Previous honors

Dunham is the first Marine to earn the Medal of Honor since Vietnam, and the second service member to receive it for actions in the Iraq war.

On April 4, 2005, Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith’s family received the award in a White House ceremony, two years after Smith died in Iraq.

Smith’s unit, 2nd Platoon, B Company, 11th Engineer Battalion, was ordered to set up a temporary detainee facility at Saddam International Airport during the initial invasion of Iraq. As the unit moved in, an enemy force of roughly 100 Iraqi soldiers attacked with mortars, automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.

Smith ordered a soldier to put an armored personnel carrier between members of his unit and the enemy. Smith then manned the carrier’s .50-caliber machine gun and told a soldier who accompanied him to “feed me ammunition whenever you hear the gun get quiet,” according to his citation. He fired at least three boxes of ammunition from the exposed position until he was mortally wounded by enemy fire.

The citation said Smith’s actions saved the lives of at least 100 soldiers and killed 20 to 50 enemy soldiers.

As for Marine recipients, although some have received the award in recent years for decades-old actions, the last time a Marine earned the Medal of Honor was May 8, 1970. Lance Cpl. Miguel Keith received the award posthumously based on his actions in Quang Ngai province in Vietnam.

Four other Marines were awarded for actions that year: Pfc. Raymond “Mike” Clausen for actions on Jan. 31; Gunnery Sgt. Allan Kellogg, March 11; Lance Cpl. Emilio de la Garza, April 11; and Lance Cpl. James Howe, May 6.

Two other Marines have reportedly been nominated for the Medal of Honor for heroism in Iraq. Both would be posthumous awards.

Sgt. Rafael Peralta, 25, with 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, died Nov. 15, 2004, during the second battle of Fallujah. His unit had been fighting insurgents in a house when he was mortally wounded. He then cradled a grenade to save other Marines in the room.

The other name mentioned is Lance Cpl. Christopher Adlesperger, 20, with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, who died Dec. 9, 2004. One month earlier, Adlesperger, after taking fire from a house during the Fallujah battle, climbed to the top of the house, fired grenades through the roof, shot and killed insurgents as they ran out of the house, and led the charge back into the house to make sure it was secure, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times.  

Beth Zimmerman and John Hoellwarth contributed to this report.

[Maverick]

Good read there, thanks.

Cpl. Jason Dunham - Rest in Peace

[BlueJ1]

Grr, I saw a book in walden books the other day that was written by a reporter of the events leading up to this event. I cant remember the title...I didnt buy it only because I was looking for a soldiers point of view. Not a reporters.

[Bodhi]

[rpm]

[rabbidrabbit]

[Viking]

!

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by BlueJ1



Grr, I saw a book in walden books the other day that was written by a reporter of the events leading up to this event. I cant remember the title...I didnt buy it only because I was looking for a soldiers point of view. Not a reporters.

I can't remember if the guy was a reporter or writer but "generation kill" is an excellent book written by an embed.

[daimian]

While leading a patrol of his Marines in Karabilah, Corporal Dunham received a report that a Marine convoy had been ambushed. He led his squad to the site of the attack � where he and his men stopped a convoy of cars trying to make an escape,� according to the Corps press release. �As he moved to search one of the vehicles, an insurgent jumped out and grabbed him by the throat. The corporal engaged the insurgent in hand-to-hand combat.�

Dunham shouted to the other Marines �No. No. No. Watch his hand.� As the two scuffled, the Iraqi dropped a grenade with the pin removed, and Dunham quickly jumped on it, using his Kevlar helmet and body to smother the blast.


why did he not kick it under the car? if had time to take his helmet off and and jump on it. or pick it up and throw it.

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by daimian
While leading a patrol of his Marines in Karabilah, Corporal Dunham received a report that a Marine convoy had been ambushed. He led his squad to the site of the attack � where he and his men stopped a convoy of cars trying to make an escape,� according to the Corps press release. �As he moved to search one of the vehicles, an insurgent jumped out and grabbed him by the throat. The corporal engaged the insurgent in hand-to-hand combat.�

Dunham shouted to the other Marines �No. No. No. Watch his hand.� As the two scuffled, the Iraqi dropped a grenade with the pin removed, and Dunham quickly jumped on it, using his Kevlar helmet and body to smother the blast.


why did he not kick it under the car? if had time to take his helmet off and and jump on it. or pick it up and throw it.

I can only assume that the human thought process gets rather "limited" when somone is throwing grenades at you.

[ByeBye]

Originally posted by Gunslinger
I can only assume that the human thought process gets rather "limited" when somone is throwing grenades at you.

Plus, throwing it may have been worse for everyone around. Kicking it under a car? That would be tough to do it and make it stay under the car.

I think this guy knew what he was doing. We are blessed to have poeple like him.

[Maverick]

Cpl. Dunham was there and knew what the situation was first hand, damian wasn't and doesn't have that knowledge. I'd trust the judgement of the man on the scene, not some second guessing poster.

[Slash27]

Cpl. Dunham

[Hawklore]

Cpl. Dunham!