Marine who died saving comrades nominated for Medal of Honor

Jason Dunham stepped into the role of protector long before he ever donned a Marine uniform.

As a teenager, he put himself between a friend and an adversary to protect his buddy during a fight. As a brother, he would warn his little sister to watch out for boys. As a man, he dreamed of becoming a state trooper — so long as work didn’t take him too far from home, where he could keep an eye on those he loved most.

Dunham died as he had lived, said the minister at his burial last May: “Caring more for others than himself.”

He has been nominated for the Medal of Honor, given for extraordinary valor without regard to one’s safety.

On April 14, 2004, the 22-year-old corporal from Scio, N.Y., was patrolling a vehicle checkpoint near Husaybah, Iraq, when a man leapt from a car and snatched Dunham by his throat. As Dunham wrestled with his attacker, he apparently spotted a grenade in the Iraqi’s hand and shouted a warning to other Marines rushing to his aid.

Marine Corps officials would later conclude that Dunham dived onto the explosive and covered it with his helmet to shield his comrades. He died a week later at a U.S. hospital, his parents by his side. His mother, Deb, held one hand. His father, Dan, clasped the other.

“He never opened his eyes,” his mother said.

Dunham is among several Americans in the Iraq war who gave their lives to save another. Marine Sgt. Kirk Straseskie, 23, of Beaver Dam, Wis., drowned after he jumped into a canal to rescue victims of a helicopter crash. Army Sgt. Jaror Puello-Coronado, 36, of Pocono Summit, Pa., was hit by an out-of-control truck after he pushed another soldier out of its path.

Dunham is the first person in this conflict to be recommended for the nation’s highest military honor, according to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. In a letter asking President Bush to approve the Medal of Honor nomination, Schumer noted that Dunham’s “unbelievable bravery and selflessness” saved the lives of at least two other Marines.

“I can imagine no clearer a case of an individual soldier exhibiting the ideals that the Congressional Medal was established to honor.”

Dunham’s mother says they were ideals her son displayed all his life.

“He was a hero before this,” she said. “It didn’t take this for us to find that out.”

— Associated Press