New Burke Class DDG to be named for MOH Recepient.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/03/defense_dunham_destroyer_032007/

From Marine Corps Times

Destroyer to be named for Medal of Honor Marine

By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer

Posted : Wednesday Mar 21, 2007 8:33:43 EDT

The name of a Marine who gave his life to save his comrades in Iraq will grace a new destroyer, the Navy announced Tuesday.

Cpl. Jason Dunham received the Medal of Honor on Jan. 11 for his actions April 14, 2004, when he grappled with an insurgent after his unit was ambushed in Karabilah, Iraq. Dunham threw himself on a live grenade to shield fellow Marines and, although he survived the initial explosion, died of his injuries after 10 days.

Navy Secretary Donald Winter plans to officially announce the ship’s name Friday in Dunham’s hometown of Scio, N.Y.

The USS Dunham (DDG 109) will be the 59th DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The ship is expected to be delivered to the Navy from the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine, in the fall of 2009.

Dunham is the first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor since the advent of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

A machine gunner for Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Dunham was 22 years old when he died. The Navy provided an account of Dunham’s heroic actions:

“On April 14, 2004, Dunham’s squad was conducting a reconnaissance mission in Karabilah when his Battalion Commander’s convoy was ambushed. When Dunham’s squad approached to provide fire support, an Iraqi insurgent leapt out of a vehicle and attacked Dunham. As Dunham wrestled the insurgent to the ground, he noticed that the enemy fighter had a grenade in his hand. Dunham immediately alerted his fellow Marines, and when the enemy dropped the live grenade, Dunham took off his Kevlar helmet, covered the grenade, and threw himself on top to smother the blast. In an ultimate selfless act of courage, in which he was mortally wounded, he saved the lives of two fellow Marines.”