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Posted on 03/26/2007 4:32:48 PM PDT by SandRat
| SCIO, N.Y., March 26, 2007 – The Navy honored Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham March 24 by naming a guided missile destroyer after the fallen Marine hero during a ceremony here. Hundreds of students, teachers and veterans packed the gym of Scio Central High School as Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter announced that the name of the Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer would honor the memory of the Marine Corps’ most recent Medal of Honor recipient. Dunham is the Marine Corps’ first Medal of Honor recipient for actions in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He earned the Medal of Honor for his actions in Iraq on April 14, 2004, when he threw himself on top of a live grenade to save the lives of his fellow Marines. He died of his injuries eight days later at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Winter made the announcement in Dunham’s hometown, with Dunham’s parents, Dan and Deb, and siblings in attendance. "Dan and I are very excited and proud to accept the powerful tribute the Navy has honored Jason with,” said an emotional Deb Dunham to the crowd. "We wish to thank the Navy for this historical honor you have given Jay by commemorating his actions and memory with a ship's title.” "There is a long tradition in the United States Navy of naming our war ships after heroes,” Winter said. “The hero would no longer be with us, but his name would live on.” Winter said that when the time came to name the newest destroyer, he had no problem coming up with a fitting namesake. "It seemed appropriate, when the time came to name DDG 109, that we name that great ship after our newest Medal of Honor recipient,” he said. “This is the first time we've had a chance to recognize a Marine from this generation, and particularly a Marine who served so well and sacrificed his life on behalf of our nation in the global war on terror." The Navy currently has six destroyers named after Marine Medal of Honor recipients. Winter said he expects the USS Jason Dunham to serve the fleet well for many years to come. "I fully expect that this ship will be in the fleet for 30, 40 years, or maybe even more,” he said. The USS Jason Dunham will be christened in 2009 and commissioned in 2010. Army Sgt. First Class Paul R. Smith is Operation Iraqi Freedom’s only other Medal of Honor recipient so far. He also received the award posthumously. (Marine Corps Sgt. Helen M. Searcy is assigned to Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps.)
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| Biographies: Donald C. Winter Related Sites: |
RIP.
Nice going Marine!
-ex squid.
bttt
Just makes me cry.
Here is the story of the other recipient:
Soldier’s son accepts Medal of Honor for dad’s valor in Iraq
By Matthew Cox
Army Times staff writer
If young David Smith was scared, he didn’t show it.
The wide-eyed, 11-year-old boy let go of his mother’s hand and stood tall as President Bush presented him with the Medal of Honor Monday for his father’s heroism in Iraq.
David took the wood-framed plaque, holding the nation’s highest award for valor, and gazed at it briefly before silently lifting his head to face the roomful of generals, lawmakers, service members and journalists in the cramped room of the White House.
His father, Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, died exactly two years before he received the honor for leading a counterattack against the Iraqi Republican Guard that saved 100 of his fellow soldiers’ lives.
“The Medal of Honor is the highest award for bravery a president can bestow; it is given for gallantry above and beyond the call of duty,” Bush said in a speech before presenting the prestigious award.
Smith, 33, was a platoon sergeant with Bravo Company, 11th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, during the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
On April 4, 2003, Smith was setting up a temporary enemy prisoner of war holding area during the seizure of Saddam International Airport when his unit came under attack.
Smith kept his soldiers focused during the fight while engaging the Iraqi force of around 100 men with his M16, a hand grenade and an AT4 anti-armor weapon.
At one point in the battle, Smith manned a .50 caliber machinegun in the exposed turret of a damaged M113 armored personnel carrier and began firing at the main force of the enemy.
He fired about 400 rounds, giving his soldiers time to regroup and mount an attack of their own.
When the shooting stopped, the Iraqi force had been defeated, but not before Smith had suffered an enemy bullet to the head.
Smith is the first Medal of Honor recipient since the two medals awarded to Master Sgt. Gary Gordon and Sgt. 1st Class Randall Shughart, who died during the battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Oct. 3, 1993.
“On this day, two years ago, Sergeant Smith gave his all for his men. Five days later Baghdad fell, and the Iraqi people were liberated,” Bush said. “Today we bestow on Sergeant Smith the first Medal of Honor in the war on terrorism. … We count ourselves blessed that we have soldiers like Sergeant Smith.”
Smith is also the first to be awarded the new Medal of Honor Flag, recently authorized by Congress.
In addition to David, Smith’s wife, Birgit, and his 18-year-old daughter, Jessica, also stood on the small stage to accept the award.
Following the ceremony, Birgit told reporters it wasn’t hard to make the decision to have David accept the honor for his father.
“He is now the man in our household, so David deserves to have this Medal of Honor,” she said.
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