Medal ceremony humbles world traveler

Sports agent feels impact of Marine’s sacrifice

BY MARY WICOFF
Commercial-News, Danville, IL
January 16, 2007

DANVILLE, IL — Sports agent Doug Barnette rubs shoulders with celebrities and travels the globe.

But, nothing in his life — nothing — topped the thrill of attending ceremonies last week in which Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham posthumously received a Congressional Medal of Honor.

Barnette was a guest of the young man’s parents, Dan and Deb Dunham of Scio, N.Y.

“It was an amazing, emotionally draining, mentally exhausting two days,” he said. “It was a humbling, once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Barnette, 36, attended three ceremonies Thursday and Friday — one at the White House in which President Bush presented the award; one at the Pentagon, where he toured the Hall of Heroes; and one at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, which he said was the most powerful.

Barnette met U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain and wasn’t far from Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Best of all, he met four Medal of Honor recipients — something he’d rather do than meet the president.

Barnette can’t stress enough the importance of the award, the nation’s highest military decoration.

“It’s an unbelievably huge honor,” he said. Few people earn it; 75-80 percent are given posthumously, he said.

“It celebrates a selfless act of someone who gave his life to save someone else.”

In April 2004, Dunham, 22, was leading a patrol in an Iraqi town near the Syrian border when the patrol stopped a convoy of cars leaving the scene of an attack on a Marine convoy.

An occupant of one of the cars attacked Dunham, and the two fought hand to hand. As they fought, Dunham yelled to fellow Marines, “No, no … watch his hand.” The attacker then dropped a grenade, and Dunham hurled himself on top of it, using his helmet to try to blunt the force of the blast.

He died eight days later.

One day, Barnette was in a bookstore and picked up “The Gift of Valor,” written by Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Phillips. He devoured the account of Dunham’s bravery.

He was so impressed he tracked down Dunham’s parents to thank them for their son’s courage.

“As a former U.S. Army paratrooper, I wanted to do whatever I could to honor this young man,” said Barnette, who served from 1989-91 and saw combat in Central America and Operation Desert Storm as an airborne medic.

Barnette, CEO of Player Management International, invited the couple to the Phoenix NASCAR race in November 2005. A special logo to honor Dunham appeared on the No. 4 Biagi Brothers entry.

The Dunhams also attended both the NASCAR Busch Series and Nextel Cup driver meetings.

“It meant a lot to me to be able to do that for them,” he said. “Dan, Deb and I got to spend a lot of time together that weekend and have become great friends.”

When the Dunhams invited Barnette to the ceremony, he said, “I was blown away.” Although he travels 40 weeks out of the year, he told the Dunhams he would make sure his schedule was clear.

“I have done a lot of cool things in my life, but this by far and away surpasses any success that I have ever achieved,” he said.

One of Barnette’s friends agreed with his remarks about the importance of the Medal of Honor.

Master Sgt. Scott Zastrow, based at Fort Campbell, Ky., serves with the Army Special Forces. He has spent 20 years in the military and has three Bronze Stars.

“To get anything handed to you by the president of the United States is pretty big,” he said. “It’s the biggest honor a soldier can receive.”

The award isn’t given out lightly, he added, but must reward acts so honorable, so unselfish that when people hear about the recipient’s actions, they say, “Oh, my God.”

Zastrow also praised Barnette for his efforts to support the troops, saying, “He’s a very good influence on people. He has the ability to touch more people now than if he was in the military.”

Summing up his two days in Washington, D.C., Barnette said, “I felt like I had run 400 miles. It was just that exhausting. It was just the gravity of it all — this is serious stuff. This is life or death.”

WHAT IT MEANS

The Congressional Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force that can be bestowed upon an individual in the armed services of the United States. Generally, it is presented by the president.

In its 140-year history, more than 3,460 medals have been awarded. As of June 2006, there were 111 living recipients.

For more information, visit the Web site http://www.cmohs.org.


ON THE WEB

Doug Barnette, chief executive officer of Player Management International, offers more information on his Web site, http://www.pmifirm.com.