Dunham family to get Medal of Honor today

[Vulture6]

Dunham family to get Medal of Honor today
January 08, 2007
By John Hoellwarth
Staff writer


Dan and Debbie Dunham hold a portrait of their son, Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham, on the back porch of their home last fall. Dunham, who died in Iraq after covering a grenade with his helmet and body, saving the lives of those around him, will be the first Marine to get the medal since the Vietnam war. — AP Photo by Don Heupel. —



The president will present the Medal of Honor to the family of Cpl. Jason Dunham during a ceremony in the White House’s East Room on Thursday, according to White House officials.

Dunham was an infantryman assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, when he was severely wounded in Karabilah, Iraq, on April 14, 2004, after smothering an enemy grenade with his body and helmet to save fellow Marines. He succumbed to his wounds eight days later.

“By giving his own life, Corporal Dunham saved the lives of two of his men and showed the world what it means to be a Marine,” President Bush said during his Nov. 10 announcement that Dunham would posthumously receive the nation’s highest decoration for combat heroism.

Dunham becomes the first Marine to earn the Medal of Honor in more than 30 years and one of only two U.S. service members to be awarded the medal since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith was posthumously awarded the medal on April 4, 2005, for his actions in Baghdad during the initial invasion of Iraq on April 4, 2003.

[Grimmy]

Semper Fi Marine

Rest in Peace