One Man Can Make A Difference (NQM018)
“We had this conversation, asking each other what we would do with a live grenade when it rolls to your feet. I said I would kick it back or throw it back, but Jason said he would cover it up. Dunham had a theory that if you would put your helmet on it and then shoot your body on top of it, it would be enough to cover the blast. Then Lt Robinson said, besides it doesn’t really matter cause the grenade only has a 3 to 5 second fuse and you wouldn’t have time to cover it with the helmet anyway. And Dunham looks at him and says really? I’ll be back in a second. He goes back to his gear and shows up with his freaking helmet on, and looks at the Lt and says time me. Within a second, Dunham had pulled his head forward, chinstrap off the chin, and slapped his helmet on the deck. This isn’t something he just thought about, he rehearsed that shit. He was so comprehensive in his concern for his fellow Marines he was practicing what to do with a live grenade.“ ~ Bill Hampton
On April 14th 2004, on a dusty road in the western Iraqi city of Husaybah, US Marine Corps Corporal Jason Dunham of Scio New York sacrificed his life to save two of his fellow Marines by jumping on a live grenade. He died of his wounds 8 days later and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on 10 November 2006.
Corporal Dunham’s story was immortalized in Micheal Phillips’ 2005 book The Gift of Valor: A War Story. Additionally, David C. Kniess is spear-heading the effort to finish a documentary about Corporal Dunham’s life and sacrifice in a short film titled The Gift. The trailer can be seen below, and you can donate to this incredible effort by visiting the Indiegogo page here.
"All that we have has been given to us... what we do with what has been given is how we honor those who gave." - MGySgt Adam Walker, Kilo 3/7
Jason Dunham’s Medal of Honor citation reads as follows:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Rifle Squad Leader, 4th Platoon, Company K, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines (Reinforced), Regimental Combat Team 7, First Marine Division (Reinforced), on 14 April 2004. Corporal Dunham's squad was conducting a reconnaissance mission in the town of Karabilah, Iraq, when they heard rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire erupt approximately two kilometers to the west.
Corporal Dunham led his Combined Anti-Armor Team towards the engagement to provide fire support to their Battalion Commander's convoy, which had been ambushed as it was traveling to Camp Husaybah. As Corporal Dunham and his Marines advanced, they quickly began to receive enemy fire. Corporal Dunham ordered his squad to dismount their vehicles and led one of his fire teams on foot several blocks south of the ambushed convoy. Discovering seven Iraqi vehicles in a column attempting to depart, Corporal Dunham and his team stopped the vehicles to search them for weapons. As they approached the vehicles, an insurgent leaped out and attacked Corporal Dunham. Corporal Dunham wrestled the insurgent to the ground and in the ensuing struggle saw the insurgent release a grenade. Corporal Dunham immediately alerted his fellow Marines to the threat. Aware of the imminent danger and without hesitation, Corporal Dunham covered the grenade with his helmet and body, bearing the brunt of the explosion and shielding his Marines from the blast. In an ultimate and selfless act of bravery in which he was mortally wounded, he saved the lives of at least two fellow Marines. By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty, Corporal Dunham gallantly gave his life for his country, thereby reflecting great credit upon himself and upholding the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.
Jocko took in 4 Marines that were directly involved on that fateful April day in 2004 in Episode 203 of his podcast, John Ferguson, Trent Gibson, Bill Hampton, and Kelly Miller. The latter two were less than a foot away from the grenade blast and survived thanks to Corporal Dunham’s sacrifice. Jocko’s podcast are always top notch, and this one is no different. One of the most sincere podcasts I have listened to. A few highlights below, but I highly suggest you check out the whole episode.
Jocko Podcast #203: One Man Can Make a Difference. USMC Corporal Jason Dunham and The Ultimate Sacrifice
On being a foot away from a grenade explosion: “Sanders was a dozen yards away from the fight when he heard Dunham yell a warning, “No, no, watch his hand”. Hampton, less than a foot away, heard nothing aside from the pounding of his own heart, but he caught a fleeting glimpse of Dunham’s helmet on the ground next to the Iraqi. Dunham was on his stomach with his arms wrapped around the sides of his helmet as if he was holding it down on top of something. Then came the explosion.”
The aftermath of the explosion: “I started looking around and noticed there were tiny bits of Kevlar scraps covering the road from wall to wall. I called over to Ferg and asked, where is Dunham’s helmet? They could not find it. Then I realized that it was his helmet all over that road.“
On just how important protecting his fellow Marines was to Corporal Dunham: “We had this conversation, asking each other what we would do with a live grenade when it rolls to your feet. I said I would kick it back or throw it back, but Jason said he would cover it up. Dunham had a theory that if you would put your helmet on it and then shoot your body on top of it, it would be enough to cover the blast. Then Lt Robinson said, besides it doesn’t really matter cause the grenade only has a 3 to 5 second fuse and you wouldn’t have time to cover it with the helmet anyway. And Dunham looks at him and says really? I’ll be back in a second. He goes back to his gear and shows up with his freaking helmet on, and looks at the Lt and says time me. Within a second, Dunham had pulled his head forward, chinstrap off the chin, and slapped his helmet on the deck. This isn’t something he just thought about, he rehearsed that shit. He was so comprehensive in his concern for his fellow Marines he was practicing what to do with a live grenade. “
The toughest decision of all: “We talk a lot about decision making, and as combat leaders you have to make hard decision. And as hard as those decisions are there is the absolute most horrible of all decisions. One that I can not even fathom, is trying to make the one that Dan and Deb were faced with making. And this is based on the fact that they get told by the doctors that “the prognosis for your son is grim, the biggest grenade fragment had caused so much damage that even if he survived, Jason would be paralyzed on one side and unable to speak or understand those who spoke to him. The swelling of his brain stem had destroyed to ability for his body to keep him alive unless a machine did it for him. What you see is what you have, he will never be able to hear you or know you are there. The changes for a full neurological recovery are non existent.” The doctors then mentioned the unmentionable. The Dunhams should consider taking Jason off of life-support. Corporal Dunham completed a living will specifying that he did not want to be kept alive if he was on life-support.”
Resting in Peace: “A chaplain gave Jason his last rights, then leaned over and helped remove Deb’s gloves. Deb then leaned over and held Jason’s hand. Sometimes she reached across and held Dan’s hand and sometimes she placed her own on Jason’s heart. We are proud of you, Dan said, we love you. Deb touched the side and bridge of his nose and said ‘it is OK honey, you can go now’. Dr. Dun watched as the blue line on the monitor screen showed plunging levels of oxygen in Jason’s blood, and his heart rate dropped until the green line went silently flat. Dun stepped forward to listen to Jason’s lungs and heart, he straightened up, removed the stethoscope from his ears and said he is gone. It was 4:43pm April 26 2004. Jason body relaxed, and Dan thought his son looked like himself again.”
On honoring the gift of life you have been given: “We don’t have the luxury of knowing what the outcome is going to be of every decision that we make. But we do have control over the decisions we make now. The decision of what we make with what we have now, and how we handle the things we have been through. We can’t take those decisions back, and even if we could, we didn’t know the outcome. But we have the opportunity to make decisions now and to move forward in the right direction. Like anything that sucks, you gain something from it, you make progress, you become stronger. You do something hard, you become stronger. These things we go through make us stronger, they make us better.”
On Dunham’s sacrifice creating life: “It was tough for us to be here today, the main thing is don’t take things for granted, be grateful. These guys have kids, families, they have a great life because of Jason’s sacrifice. We know that is the greatest act of humanity that has ever been witnessed, his legacy lives on in these guys and their families. I believe in three things as a Marine: leadership by example, self-sacrifice for the greater good, and that one man can make a difference. That is what I am expecting from you, and what you can expect from me. Jason embodied all three of those. I can think of no more profound example of humanity, the pinnacle of human existence, then to give your life for another. Hampton’s got two boys and two girls, and Miller’s got his son Jet. Life begets life.”
Protecting others even after passing: “To see a Marine’s name on a naval vessel, I realized in that moment when I saw his name there, that In that moment of self-sacrifice, he transformed an object of personal protection into an instrument of protection of others.”
USS Jason Dunham
Living life to the fullest every day to honor Dunham’s sacrifice: “It is easy to be overwhelmed by an act of such selflessness. To make the ultimate sacrifice, It is easy to look at that and get overwhelmed by it, and think to yourself well that is something I can’t relate to, something I don’t need to think about. And I would actually say to you no, that actually is something you should think about, something to relate to. That is something you should try and pursue every single day. To think about, every single day, that there is a person, flesh and blood, with one life to live, and who gave his life for his friends. And maybe every day, if you think about not what you can take from the world, but what you can give, and if you can do that right there, if you can give a little bit, and reflect a little bit of Jason Dunham back into the world, then the world will be a better place for it.”
