Jason Lee Dunham (November 10, 1981 – April 22, 2004) was a corporal in the United States Marine Corps who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions while serving with 3rd Battalion 7th Marines during the Iraq War. While on a patrol in Husaybah, his unit was attacked. In the course of the fighting, Dunham deliberately used his helmet and body to cover a live grenade and save nearby Marines. When it exploded Dunham was gravely injured and died eight days later.
Jason Dunham was born on November 10, 1981, in Scio, New York, and resided there with his parents, Dan and Deb, and his three siblings, two brothers and a sister. He graduated from Scio High School in 2000, having played basketball for his high school team.
Dunham joined the United States Marine Corps in 2000. After graduating from recruit training on October 27 from Golf Company Platoon 2092, he served as a Security Force sentry at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia until 2003.
In early 2004, Dunham was serving as a squad leader with 4th Platoon, Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force. His unit was based in Al-Karābilah.
On April 14, 2004, the battalion commander's convoy came under attack near Husaybah, Iraq, and 4th Platoon was dispatched on patrol to investigate. Dunham and his squad intercepted a number of cars spotted near the scene of the attack, which the patrol detained to search for weapons. When the squad approached a white Toyota Land Cruiser and discovered AK-47s, the driver exited and attacked the Marines in an attempt to flee. Dunham responded by closing in for hand-to-hand combat to subdue him. During the fighting, the individual dropped an armed Mills 36M hand grenade.
To save the rest of his men, Dunham deliberately threw himself on the grenade, attempting to use his PASGT helmet to shield himself and others from the explosion, warning the others to "watch his hands." Dunham, the insurgent, and two other Marines nearby were all wounded by grenade fragments.
Dunham was severely wounded by the grenade blast, and was immediately evacuated. Within days, he arrived at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, in a coma, where he was being treated for his injuries. After being diagnosed with brain damage and deemed unlikely to recover, he was taken off life support eight days later, on April 22, 2004. Shortly beforehand, Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Michael Hagee, presented Dunham with the Purple Heart. Dunham's parents were at his bedside when he died.
In 2004, Michael M. Phillips, staff writer for The Wall Street Journal, wrote an article summarizing Dunham's actions that appeared on page A1 of the May 25 edition. In 2005, Phillips published The Gift of Valor: A War Story, which told Dunham's life story.
In addition to the Medal of Honor and his other military decorations, Dunham has also received other honors:
The United States Post Office in Scio, New York was renamed the Corporal Jason L. Dunham Post Office
The Marine Corps Security Force Barracks at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay Georgia was renamed the Corporal Jason Dunham Barracks
Crucible warrior's station at both Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina and at San Diego, California, are named in his honor
The Marine Corps League Chapter in Palm Desert, California is named in his honor.
The Cpl Dunham Room, Corporals Course, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina.
A chapter of the Leathernecks Motorcycle Club International is named in his honor.
Dunham Hall is a Marine Corps dining facility named after Cpl Jason Dunham on Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms.
Shortly after his death, Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Lopez, Dunham's commanding officer, began the process of nominating him for the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest award for valor in combat. On November 10, 2006, at the dedication of the National Museum of the Marine Corps, President George W. Bush announced that Corporal Dunham would receive the Medal of Honor, making him the second recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions in the Iraq War and the first Marine recipient for actions since the Vietnam War.
President Bush presented Dunham's family with the Medal of Honor in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on January 11, 2007.