Posthumous Medal of Honor Recipient Corporal Jason Dunham Honored

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 05/28/08 -- Daniel and Debra Dunham, parents of Marine Corporal Jason L. Dunham, will be on hand to accept the Military Heroes Award on behalf of their son at The Pentagon Federal Credit Union's Fourth Annual Night of Heroes gala. Corporal Dunham was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President George Bush on January 11, 2007 at a White House ceremony.

Cpl Dunham, of Scio, N.Y., posthumously received America's highest military decoration after succumbing to a mortal brain injury while fighting in Iraq. He served with K Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, based in Twentynine Palms, California.

Dunham, a 22-year-old machine gunner, was manning a checkpoint near Karabilah, near the Syrian border in Iraq, on April 14, 2004, when an Iraqi man grabbed his throat. As the two scuffled, the Iraqi dropped a grenade with the pin removed, and Dunham quickly jumped on it, using his Kevlar helmet and body to smother the blast. Shrapnel pierced his skull, and he died eight days later with his parents at his side at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md.

Colonel H.C. "Barney" Barnum, USMC (Ret), the fourth Marine recipient of the Medal of Honor who received his award for valor in Vietnam will also be given the Military Hero Award.

Secretary of the Navy, The Honorable Dr. Donald Winter, will deliver the keynote address. Secretary Winter is the 74th Secretary of the Navy and has served as president of Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector and president and CEO of TRW Systems. General Barry McCaffrey USA (Ret), who will present the Military Hero Awards, retired after 32 years in the Army as the most highly decorated serving General. General McCaffrey was later the cabinet officer in charge of U.S. Drug Policy and currently is a military analyst and adjunct professor at West Point. Bob Schieffer, award-winning CBS News anchor is the Master of Ceremonies.

The Night of Heroes gala is an annual fundraiser benefitting wounded warriors and their families. Projects in the past have included a last-stage hospice at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, wireless laptop computers and networks at military hospitals around the country, interest-free emergency loans, childcare for wounded soldiers and grants to assist military personnel, many of them having served in Iraq and Afghanistan, in purchasing their first home.

Plans are underway to construct a $12 million, 33-rooom veterans and wounded warrior lodge at the Palo Alto VA Hospital in Palo Alto, California. The regional VA is one of four in the country designated by Congress in 2005 as a Polytrauma Center.

The Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit institution who assists military personnel and their families who face financial issues due to predatory lending and extends compassion and a helping hand to those wounded in the war on terrorism. Their mission is to ensure that those who are devoting their lives to the defense of our country have the resources they need to secure a sound financial future for themselves and their families. One hundred percent of donated funds go to programs because Pentagon Federal Credit Union pays for all administrative costs of the Foundation.

For more information, visit their website at www.PentagonFoundation.org

Contact: Pauline Poh The Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation (703) 838-1085 pauline.poh@penfed.org

2008-05-28 18:30:43 0372289 MARKETWIRE