[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 147 (Monday, October 1, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN HONOR OF CORPORAL JASON L. DUNHAM

                                 ______
                                 

                    HON. JOHN R. ``RANDY'' KUHL, JR.

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 1, 2007

  Mr. KUHL. Madam Speaker, the poem below was written by Albert Carey 
Caswell in honor of Corporal Jason L. Dunham of the United States 
Marine Corps. Corporal Dunham gave his life for his country while 
serving in Iraq, absorbing the brunt of a grenade explosion in a 
selfless act of bravery on April 14, 2004, thereby saving the lives of 
two of his fellow Marines. Corporal Dunham's undaunted courage, 
intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face 
of certain death earned him the Medal of Honor, our Nation's highest 
award for valor, on January 11, 2007. Corporal Dunham is survived by 
his family in Scio, New York.

     One,
     One Fine Thing . . .
     As to this our world, your heart so surely brings!
     All in your choices,
     All through your most sacred inner 
           voices . . .
     As to our Nation, the blessings you've bestowed upon her . . 
           . which so ring!
     All in The Face of Death,
     When, your oh so magnificent courage so seems to crest!
     For in these, are the things which so makes an angel's heart 
           sing . . . no less!
     All in that moment!
     There between life and death, A Freedom Fighter . . . at his 
           best!
     All in these moments, of which we are now so left . . . to 
           carry with us, until our deaths!
     Children of God!
     Who cry, when their brothers and sisters in arms  . . . so 
           fall and die!
     Yet, marching on . . . ever onward until the evil is gone, as 
           where courage is born!
     To Give All!
     To Hear That Most Noble Of All Calls!
     To go forth, in that of death's course . . . for One Fine 
           Thing, While Standing Tall!
     To give up your young promising life!
     To go so boldly forth, all in your course . . . and so 
           gallantly to sacrifice!
     But All, to stand In The Shadow of Death . . . and not look 
           away, nor think twice!
     Rise . . . to Heaven, my Fine Son!
     Jason, for you in your angelic glow . . . have Heaven so won!
     As you died, so others may live . . . your life, the most 
           precious of all gifts one could give!
     While, in That Moment,
     When, who lives and who dies . . . where the most splendid of 
           all courage so lies!
     As it was you, Jason the one so who my fine son . . . The 
           Congressional One, who so gave his life!
     As now I cry!
     Knowing full well, how so beautifully you died . . .
     Maybe a child, who'll save the world . . . a boy or girl, 
           from that One Fine Thing unfurled which lies!
     To bring, in your being . . . and in your life . . .
     Could you, would we, would you . . . the courage find, in 
           this your life's meaning so divine!
     To somehow find, to give to this our world all in our time . 
           . . but, One Fine Thing!

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