The Gift of Valor; A War Story

New York, N.Y.: Broadway Books, 2005. First Edition [stated]. Second printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. [12], 241, [3] pages. Sources and Acknowledgments. Inscribed on the title page by the author. Inscription reads: To Sally, For her 22 years of service in the Nation's defense. Michael M. Phillips. August 26, 2005 Reno, NV. Michael Phillips is a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal. He has covered the U.S. ground war in Afghanistan since 2001, embedding with American forces in the field on two-dozen occasions. He rode with a front-line Marine infantry squad from Kuwait to Baghdad during the 2003 Iraq invasion and returned to cover the same battalion four other times between 2003 and 2006. When not in Afghanistan, he writes about the aftermath of the wars, including post-traumatic stress, suicide and other issues facing veterans and military families. He has covered the global financial crisis, international economics, sub-Saharan Africa, Third World development, foreign assistance and AIDS. He is the author of a book, The Gift of Valor, about the life and death of Corporal Jason Dunham, the first Marine to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. In 2011, Mr. Phillips was a finalist for Pulitzer Prize for his feature coverage of the war in Afghanistan. In 2013, his writing about Afghanistan and the war's aftermath at home won the Ernie Pyle prize from the Scripps Howard Foundation and New York Press Club and Washington DC Society of Professional Journalists feature-writing awards. Jason Dunham, a twenty-two-year-old Marine corporal from Scio, New York, was on patrol near the Syrian border, on April 14, 2004, when a black-clad Iraqi leaped out of a car and grabbed him around his neck. Fighting hand-to-hand in the dirt, Dunham saw his attacker drop a grenade and made the instantaneous decision to place his own helmet over the explosive in the hope of containing the blast and protecting his men. When the smoke cleared, Dunham's helmet was in shreds, and the corporal lay face down in his own blood. Dunham was gravely injured and died eight days later. The Marines beside him were seriously wounded. Dunham was subsequently awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for military valor for his actions while serving with 3rd Battalion 7th Marines during the Iraq War. Phillips's minute-by-minute chronicle of the chaotic fighting that raged throughout the area and culminated in Dunham's injury provides 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's eight-day journey home and of his parents' heartrending reunion with their son powerfully illustrates the cold brutality of war and the fragile humanity of those who fight it. Dunham leaves an indelible mark upon all who know his story, from the doctors and nurses who treat him, to the readers of the original Wall Street Journal article that told of his singular act of valor.