Courage and November the 10th

Corporal Jason Lee Dunham, USMC

“Sir, the age of the Corps is 236 years!”  This cry  will ring out on posts and ships around the world as  Marines celebrate the 236^th anniversary of the Corps’ origin on November 10, 1775.  The Marines were founded as a naval service and share many traditions with their nautical parent. When we fall out of our racks (not bunks), our boots hit the deck (not floor) and we scramble out the hatch (not door) and down the ladder (not stairs).  While the Marines have perfected the art of assault from the sea, they are also a formidable land-based expeditionary force, performing “such duties as the President may direct.”  Which explains why Marines were deployed in 2003 to bring order to landlocked Al Anbar province in Iraq.

The simply stated values of the Marine Corps – honor, courage, and commitment – attract young men and women from all over the country. Nautical familiarity is not a prerequisite, but honesty, fidelity, and a staunch nature are. Marines are relentlessly determined to serve country, Corps, and community. If you ask a Marine what motivates him, the most likely answer you’ll hear is to support and protect his fellow Marines.  But in the end, they support and protect all of us, and our Constitution, and our way of life.

Scio, New York (pronounced sigh-o), is a small farming community (pop. ~1900) in southwestern New York State.  Only two and a half hours from Ohio, Scio has far more in common with Midwestern values than the bustle and glamour of Manhattan.  One thing that Scio could produce, however, was a true American hero.  Jason Lee Dunham was born on November 10, 1981, the exact day of the Marine Corp’s 216^th birthday.  Too much of a coincidence, he was destined to become a Marine.  After playing basketball and graduating from Scio High, Dunham signed up in July 2000. Upon successful completion of boot camp, he was awarded the title of United States Marine. 

By 2004, Jason had been promoted to the rank of corporal and was a squad leader with the 7^th Marines in Al-Karābilah, Al Anbar province.  On April 14^th of that year, Jason’s platoon was dispatched to investigate an attack on the battalion commander’s convoy.  As his squad approached a suspicious vehicle, an enemy combatant tossed a live hand grenade at the Marines.  Jason, seeing the threat to his squad, shouted a warning and deliberately threw himself on the grenade. 

His squad survived, but Jason, grievously wounded, passed away several days later on April 22^nd.  Based on accounts of his valor, Corporal Dunham was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the first Marine to be so honored since Vietnam.  In 2007, the Navy announced that a new guided missile destroyer would be named the USS Jason Dunham.  That ship was commissioned on November 13, 2010.

On this November 10^th, Jason would have been 30 years old.  As the “Occupy” protestors decry their college loan debts, please remember those like Corporal Dunham who form the sharp tip of our spear and fight for our right to exist as a country.  I never knew Jason, but as a Marine, he is my brother and I honor him. Semper fidelis, Jason.