Mission accomplished, Corporal Dunham. Semper Fidelis.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, reposted at 'I Love Jetnoise' ^ | 25 May 2004 | MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS

[Tennessee_Bob]

Thanks for the ping, Race -


Semper Fi, Marine.

[colorado tanker]

I think the Medal of Honor will go through. I haven't been able to read any MOH citation with dry eyes, and I didn't finish this article with a dry eye.

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

I wonder if Dan Rather will have this story on the nightly news.

[dcwusmc]

Thanks for this post. He was a hero in the real sense of the word.

Neil... PINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

[commish]

Semper Fi Marine. Keep em straight in Heaven, we'll do the same on earth.

[Age of Reason]

I believe I've heard that song, and it's a good one.

I looked the movie up on Amazon, and it is called The Fighting 69th.

After reading about the movie, it all came back to me: Cagney plays a loud mouth braggart until he is under fire, when he chickens out big time.

I won't say more, or it will spoil the plot, which is a good one, even for an old movie.

[SandRat]

...Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends....

A true NCO! He cared more for his men than himself.

[duckbutt]

Oh - - I read this yesterday and was crying my eyes out. I turned the page in the Journal and saw the picture of the soldier kissing the helmet that was mounted on the rifle. I started sobbing - - in Silver Diner! (local restaurant)

Man - - where do we get men like this???

[wingnutx]

I was a little teary reading this in my cube toady. I haven't seen that picture yet.

[anymouse]

Marine Taps ping.

[Coop]

and if any scumbag spits on them when they come home...

You and me both. And I imagine there are many, many like us.

Not to mention any little twerps like that would probably have difficulty finding a sympathetic police officer.

[oh8eleven]

You and me both. And I imagine there are many, many like us.

You can put my name on the top of that list. Semper Fi ...

[wingnutx]

My girlfriend's nephew was worried he would be harrassed or spit on when he got back a few months ago, from reading about protests while he was over in Iraq.

Nobody has been anything but wonderful to him regarding his service since he's been back.

The press is full of bastards.

[celtic gal]

Another proud Marine guarding Heaven's Scenes.
Semper Fi, young Cpl. You are an example for all your fellow Marines...you lived the creed!

God Bless your family and grant them peace.

[Torie]

Here is what another one of my heroes wrote in a letter to the WSJ, whose reaction was exactly the same as mine:

"I'm sorry. I've been crying. And I can't stop.

"After reading your article about Mr. Grasso's compensation (legal or not), his blistering op-ed response, and your editorial -- and whatever all that petty bickering suggests about sums so enormous that few Americans can even imagine them -- I read Mr. Phillips's moving story about Cpl. Dunham's selfless heroism. I lingered on his every word, every moment, every explosion, every turn for the worse, every hope for survival. Then the devastating news: "At 4:43 p.m. on April 22, 2004, Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham died."

"Look, I'm just a businessman. And a Republican, too. But I hope and pray that all of us who have basked in the glorious financial excesses of modern-day managers' capitalism will take a brief timeout from all of our getting and our self-important lives, get down on our knees and say a prayer for those who have given -- sadly, on our behalf -- what Lincoln called "the last full measure of devotion." "Maybe then my tears will dry. But I hope not."

John C. Bogle
Valley Forge, Pa.
(Mr. Bogle is founder and former CEO of The Vanguard Group.)