Sports agent feels impact of Marine’s sacrifice
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.