The Gift of Valor - by Michael M Phillips (Paperback)

About the Book

This embedded reporter's coverage of the war in Iraq provides a view of fear, confusion, bravery, and suffering set against a brotherhood forged in combat. He focuses on the actions of Jason Dunham, a 22-year-old Marine corporal, who became the first serviceman in Iraq nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Book Synopsis

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

Corporal Dunham 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. The Marines beside him were seriously wounded. Dunham was subsequently nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation' s highest award for military valor.

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.

Review Quotes

"One of the first great books to be spawned by the war in Iraq . . . Phillips has captured the fear, bravery and confusion of the war." --Tucson Citizen

"Affecting . . . moving." --New York Times Book Review

"The story of extraordinary valor on the part of a brave marine."
--H. Norman Schwarzkopf, General, U.S. Army, Retired

"Stands head and shoulders above previous Iraq books."
--Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute

About the Author

MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS, a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has done four tours in Iraq with the Third Battalion, Seventh Marines. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two children.