On Tuesday, November 10, Marines everywhere will cut a cake for the Corps' 251st birthday. November 10 is also the day Corporal Jason Dunham was born, in 1981, in Scio, New York. This week's American Valor is his story.
From Scio to the infantry
Dunham graduated from Scio Central School in 2000 and left for Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island that July. His first assignment was with Marine Corps Security Forces at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, not far from where I live in Jacksonville. He then moved to the infantry and joined Company K, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, California, deploying with them to Iraq in early 2004 (Marine Corps History Division).
April 14, 2004
Dunham was a rifle squad leader with 4th Platoon, Company K, on a reconnaissance mission in the town of Karabilah, near the Syrian border, when his squad heard rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire about two kilometers to the west. His battalion commander's convoy had been ambushed. Dunham led his Combined Anti-Armor Team toward the fight, took fire, dismounted, and led a fire team on foot several blocks south of the convoy. There they found seven Iraqi vehicles trying to leave in a column and stopped them to search for weapons (Medal of Honor citation).
As the Marines approached, an insurgent jumped out and attacked Dunham. Dunham wrestled him to the ground, and during the struggle he saw the man release a grenade. He shouted a warning to his Marines. In the words of his citation, "aware of the imminent danger and without hesitation, Corporal Dunham covered the grenade with his helmet and body, bearing the brunt of the explosion and shielding his Marines from the blast." He saved the lives of at least two fellow Marines (citation, Headquarters Marine Corps).
Dunham died of his wounds eight days later, on April 22, 2004, at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. He was 22. He was laid to rest in his hometown at Fairlawn Cemetery (Marine Corps History Division).
The Medal of Honor
On November 10, 2006, which would have been his 25th birthday and the Marine Corps' birthday, it was announced at the dedication of the National Museum of the Marine Corps that Dunham would receive the Medal of Honor. He was the first Marine awarded the nation's highest military honor since the Vietnam War, and the first Marine recipient for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The medal was presented to his family at the White House on January 11, 2007 (DVIDS; White House archives).
The Navy named a guided-missile destroyer for him. USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) was christened at Bath Iron Works in Maine in April 2009 and commissioned at Port Everglades, Florida, on November 13, 2010. His dress blues were displayed on the quarterdeck, and his dog tags and Kevlar helmet were placed beneath the ship's mast (Headquarters Marine Corps; DVIDS).
Why this story stays with me
A squad leader's whole job is his Marines. Dunham had a split second, and he spent it shouting a warning and putting himself between that grenade and the men he was responsible for. When I think about what leadership at the small-unit level really means, I think about Karabilah. This November 10, when the cake gets cut, it's worth remembering that one of our own shares the day.
About the author
Ryan Gunning is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran in Jacksonville, Florida, and the founder of The Calm Seas Project, which takes veterans and first responders out on the water. American Valor posts every Sunday morning.
Sources: Medal of Honor citation (Headquarters Marine Corps) · Marine Corps History Division · White House archives, January 11, 2007 · DVIDS · USS Jason Dunham commissioning (Headquarters Marine Corps)
