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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Marine recommended for Medal of Honor |
| 2004-05-26 |
| The Medal of Honor has not been awarded since 1993, to two Delta guys who died in Mogadishu. The Marines currently have no other candidate up for consideration. And though this isn’t official, it should be. I’m only posting a snippet of the story. You really have to read the whole thing yourself. Early this spring, Cpl. Jason Dunham and two other Marines sat in an outpost in Iraq and traded theories on surviving a hand-grenade attack. Second Lt. Brian "Bull" Robinson suggested that if a Marine lay face down on the grenade and held it between his forearms, the ceramic bulletproof plate in his flak vest might be strong enough to protect his vital organs. His arms would shatter, but he might live. Cpl. Dunham had another idea: A Marine’s Kevlar helmet held over the grenade might contain the blast. "I’ll bet a Kevlar would stop it," he said, according to Second Lt. Robinson. "No, it’ll still mess you up," Staff Sgt. John Ferguson recalls saying. It was a conversation the men would remember vividly a few weeks later, when they saw the shredded remains of Cpl. Dunham’s helmet, apparently blown apart from the inside by a grenade. |
| Posted by:growler |
| #11 N Guard, turn helmet on its side and focus inner lens of helmet at jihadi. I e-mailed the article to my family and friends with the following Memorial Day message: In Somalia, Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon purposefully chose to lay down their life for a fellow soldier. Leaders, who placed a higher value on political expediency than on staying the course to achieve the goal that made the sacrifice necessary, betrayed their sacrifice. How many human beings have died in Somalia since we decided the price was too high? Would the World Trade Center still be standing if we had demonstrated the strength of our will in Somalia, Beirut or Vietnam? How can we afford to bare the cost of success without achieving success? We paid a blood price in Vietnam, and then betrayed the sacrifice of our soldiers. Would the South Vietnamese government have stood if Congress had continued to provide funding after we evacauated our troops? We can't know, but we certainly did know that without American support the South Vietnamese government could not stand against a Chinese-backed North Vietnamese force. One man once asked Congress, "How can you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How can you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" I ask: would Vietnam have been a mistake if we had stayed the course? We have a chance to find out today. The blood of two generations of American soldiers awaits final vindication through our demonstration of the will to stay the course. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-05-27 1:14:55 AM |
| #10 Memo to self on deployment: use **the jihadi**, not self to smother grenade. Helmets do not appear to contain blast sucessfully. :( |
| Posted by: N Guard 2004-05-26 9:15:01 PM |
| #9 I grew up twenty miles from this kid's home town. Super volunteer fire department, tiny high school, rural America at its finest. I set up a page for Jason and other unsung heroes of the War on Terror, since we talked about not seeing them in the media the other day. LINK |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-05-26 8:37:13 PM |
| #8 Damn,my heart grieves! A finer young man never livied. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-05-26 6:38:20 PM |
| #7 You won't read this in the NYT or see it on CNN (only if they need to exploit him - but he is white and comes from a small town - not a good candidate)but there are many, many more stories like this one coming out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Chad, the Horn and other places. What this damn war needs is an "Ernie Pyle". But who the hell could he work for beside WSJ and Fox? |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2004-05-26 3:55:04 PM |
| #6 Oh man. I lost it here: He says Cpl. Dunham responded: "I want to make sure everyone makes it home alive. I want to be sure you go home to your wife alive." :( Godspeed Marine. |
| Posted by: Anonymous4021 2004-05-26 3:40:49 PM |
| #5 I read this in yesterday's WSJ. It brought tears to my eyes with thanks to God that men like this are on our side. |
| Posted by: remote man 2004-05-26 3:38:07 PM |
| #4 A fine young man. Rest easy Marine. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2004-05-26 3:10:58 PM |
| #3 Where do we get people like this? Oustanding Marines! |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2004-05-26 2:57:38 PM |
| #2 I read the story a few weeks ago when they buried him. Young kid, too, like they all are. Thank God there's still kids around this country with guts. You wonder sometimes... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-05-26 2:44:07 PM |
| #1 God Bless your soul. Thank you. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2004-05-26 2:38:02 PM |