Corporal Dunham: He Was The First Marine to Receive Medal of Honor Since The Vietnam War

RP Members and Connections - Not a new story, but one worth repeating and sharing!

On April 14th, 2004, Corporal Dunham’s squad was conducting a reconnaissance mission in Karabilah, Iraq. Meanwhile, just a few kilometers to the west, the Battalion Commander’s convoy drove into an ambush, and a flurry of small arms and rocket-propelled grenades began to fly. Upon hearing the action, Corporal Dunham maneuvered his squad to get into the fight and immediately headed towards the sound of fire to provide support for the Battalion Commander’s convoy.


Just south of the convoy, Dunham and a fire team discovered seven vehicles attempting to depart the area. Believing them to be involved in the ambush, Corporal Dunham moved in to search for weapons. When Dunham approached a run-down white Toyota typical for the region, the driver lunged out and attacked Corporal Dunham.

During the hand to hand struggle, the insurgent dropped a grenade that had already been prepared before Dunham approached the truck. Immediately warning his fellow Marines to back off while still engaged with the enemy, Corporal Dunham threw his Kevlar on the grenade followed by his body. The blast thrust Corporal Dunham into the air, but the other Marines and even the insurgent just received minor shrapnel wounds. Remarkably, the wounded insurgent got up to take off running, but the surviving Marines cut him down in a hail of bullets.

A Final Goodbye to His Parents

Mortally wounded, but not yet dead, Corporal Dunham was evacuated out for medical care. First to a hospital in Baghdad and then Germany, Dunham had suffered massive head injuries and needed emergency surgery to reduce the swelling on his brain. Corporal Dunham would eventually make his way to the National Naval Medical Center in Maryland where he continued to remain in a coma and very critical condition. The Marine Corps gave Dunham’s parents tickets from their home Scio, New York to Maryland for them to be by his side.

Dunham never regained consciousness as shrapnel had traveled down the side of his brain and the damage was irreversible. In keeping with Corporal Dunham’s pre-war wishes, he was taken off life support and died with his parents by his side on April 22nd, 2004 at the age of 22.

For his actions that day, Corporal Jason Dunham would become the first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor since Vietnam.

In 2009, the guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham was commissioned in his honor. In addition, a crucible warrior station was named in honor of Dunham at both Parris Island and San Diego Marine Recruit Depots. And just as Corporal Dunham’s journey as a Marine began in 2000, the future generation of Marines will learn of Dunham’s actions and aspire to live up to the gallantry displayed on that fateful day in Iraq.

The young Marine, who was born on November 10th of all days, had his Marine Corps experience come full circle, and a nation is indebted to him for his sacrifice.