Jason L. Dunham

Jason L. Dunham was a Marine corporal from Scio, New York, with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, when a fight near Karabilah on April 14, 2004, put an enemy grenade among his men. He covered it with his helmet and body. He was grievously wounded and died eight days later, on April 22, at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

The Medal of Honor citation records the date, the unit, and the act. He was twenty-two. The Navy later put his name on a destroyer. Those are public facts. This roll lists deceased Medal of Honor recipients from Iraq and Afghanistan. Living recipients are not listed. Dunham is here for that citation — not for rumor, and not as missing in action. He was accounted for from the moment the grenade went off.

He was born in Scio, New York, on November 10, 1981. He is buried at Fairlawn Cemetery in Scio. That is a grave. This register will not relabel a combat death as an unaccounted-for case. The photograph is an official Marine likeness. This page will not invent last words or borrow a family's private sentences. It will say a corporal had a helmet and used it on a grenade so other Marines could leave the ground, and that the citation is in the naval record because the Navy wrote it down.

Eight days in Bethesda do not make him missing. The wound was received near Karabilah. The death was recorded in Maryland. This roll stays deceased Medal of Honor only. A destroyer is a public name, not a second citation. The file is the date, the company, and the helmet.