Marine awarded Medal of Honor

Washington Post:

President Bush marked Veteran's Day Friday by dedicating the new National Museum of the Marine Corps and by bestowing the country's highest military honor posthumously on a Marine from New York who saved the lives of two other Marines by throwing himself onto a live grenade.

"As long as we have Marines like Cpl. Dunham, America will never fear for her liberty," Bush said about Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, who died from wounds he received near Husaybah, Iraq, in April 2004 after engaging in hand-to-hand combat with an insurgent. "As long as we have this fine museum, America will never forget the sacrifice."

Dunham, a high school athlete from Scio, N.Y., would have been 25 years old Friday, the 231st birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps. Bush said Dunham was "born to be a Marine."

He said Dunham, 22 years old at the time, first threw his helmet onto the grenade then jumped on it himself "to protect his fellow Marines." He called Dunham "the toughest Marine, but the nicest guy."

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee presented Dunham with the Purple Heart at his bedside shortly before he died at Bethesda Naval Hospital with his parents at his side eight days after he was wounded in Iraq.

Today, Bush awarded Dunham the Medal of Honor at the museum ceremony. Wiping away a tear, he called the Marine's death "a loss that can never be replaced." Dunham's parents were at the ceremony.

Dunham, who served in the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, of the 1st Marine Division, is the second service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for valor in Iraq. The first was Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith of the 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, who was killed in April 2003 near Baghdad International Airport.

Bush said the new $60 million museum puts you "in the boots of a Marine and will leave you with an appreciation of the rich history of the Corps."

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There is much more about the new museum and some of the former Marines who showed up for the opening like, "Norman Halfpenny (who) heard the first strains of the U.S. Marine Corps Hymn and snapped to attention, his 73-year-old body not quite as straight as it was when he served in Korea and Vietnam." An 85 year old Marine flew in from Los Angeles for the opening. I will have to find a way to get there soon.