The Gift Of Valor: A War Story

PHILLIPS, MICHAEL M.

ISBN 10: 0767920376 / ISBN 13: 9780767920377

Published by Broadway Books, New York, New York, U.S.A., 2005

About this Item

Full numberline 1-10, inscribed by author and dated Sept 29, 2005 on title page, no flaws noted. Dustjacket, with $29.95 price intact, in mylar protector. Packed securely and shipped in a box.

Seller Inventory # 001453

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Gift Of Valor: A War Story
• Publisher: Broadway Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0767920376
• ISBN 13: 9780767920377
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Inscribed By Author on Title P
• Seller catalogs:
  • ABE

About this title

Synopsis

Every day ordinary young Americans are fighting in Iraq with the same bravery, honor, and sense of duty that have distinguished American troops throughout history. One of these is Jason Dunham, a twenty-two-year-old Marine corporal from the one-stoplight town of Scio, New York, whose stunning story reporter Michael M. Phillips discovered while he was embedded with a Marine infantry battalion in the Iraqi desert. 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.

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.