The Gift of Valor: A War Story-Fast Shipping

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The true story of US Marine Corporal Jason Dunham’s brave act that saved fellow Marines and earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor.

CorporalDunham was on patrol near the Syrian border, on April 14, 2004, when a black-cladIraqi leaped out of a car and grabbed him around his neck. Fighting hand-to-handin the dirt, Dunham saw his attacker drop a grenade and made the instantaneous decisionto place his own helmet over the explosive in the hope of containing the blast andprotecting his men. When the smoke cleared, Dunham’s helmet was in shreds, and thecorporal lay face down in his own blood. The Marines beside him were seriously was subsequently nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’ s highest award for military valor.

Phillips’s minute-by-minute chronicle of thechaotic fighting that raged throughout the area and culminated in Dunham’s injuryprovides a grunt’s-eye view of war as it’s being fought today—fear, confusion, bravery,and suffering set against a brotherhood forged in combat. His account of Dunham’seight-day journey home and of his parents’ heartrending reunion with their son powerfullyillustrates the cold brutality of war and the fragile humanity of those who fightit. Dunham leaves an indelible mark upon all who know his story, from the doctorsand nurses who treat him, to the readers of the original Wall Street Journal articlethat told of his singular act of valor.