OSWAYO — Buildings on the LEEK/SAVAW Hunting and Mountain Preserve carry names. The Master Sergeant Thom Maholic Shooting Range and bunk house and the Staff Sergeant James Hackemer Warrior Pavilion recognize the bravery and selflessness of soldiers who gave their lives in service to their country.

Now, work is underway on a new building — Dunham Hall — at the preserve to ensure that the name of U.S. Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham will be remembered.

Dunham, from Scio, N.Y., died in 2004 after being critically wounded in Iraq during the War on Terror. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his sacrifice and gallantry.

On April 14, 2004, in Husaybah, while Dunham was leading his squad to provide fire support to a battalion commander’s convoy that had been attacked, the team began to receive fire. On foot, Dunham led a team south of the ambushed convoy and stopped seven  vehicles attempting to depart to search them for weapons.

While approaching the column of vehicles, an insurgent attacked Dunham. He wrestled the terrorist to the ground and in the ensuing struggle saw the insurgent release a grenade. Dunham alerted his team to the danger and, without hesitation, covered the grenade with his helmet and body, shielding his fellow Marines from the blast.

Grievously wounded, Dunham was evacuated from Iraq and arrived at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. In a coma and deemed unlikely to recover, he was taken off life support April 22, 2004, with his parents, Dan and Deb, at his bedside.

It is fitting the building that will bear his name will continue to serve other soldiers who are suffering.

“It’s going to provide more robust programs for our veterans and their families and focus on mental health and the 22 veterans that commit suicide a day,” said retired U.S. Army Col. Edward Fisher, president of the LEEK Preserve.

Fisher said that Dunham’s parents attended an open house and groundbreaking for the new project. The LEEK Preserve already has a barracks used by veterans during their hunts that dis named in memory of Dunham.

“I said, ‘Boy, that would be great if we could honor Jason by naming this building after him,'” Fisher said. “That’s what we did (with) the barracks, and then we went to build the hall and we said, ‘Let’s name this one after Jason, too, because it’s bigger, more robust and more fitting for a Medal of Honor recipient.”

The preserve provides hunting and fishing programs to 60 to 70 veterans with disabilities a year, allowing them to participate in outdoor activities. During the hunts, the facility provides all clothing, firearms, outdoor equipment, housing and food to the veterans participating. The preserve has four tracked chairs and one tracked stander that allows wounded veterans to be part of the hunts.

“Our motto is ‘Serving All Veterans, All Wars,'” Fisher said, hence the added acronym to the preserves official name, LEEK/SAVAW. “Some nonprofits out there only (work for) post-9/11 veterans and that is a slap in the face to Vietnam veterans.”

Dunham Hall will be a 300-seat facility that will serve as a revenue stream to provide more services to veterans and their families and expand the services to 80 to 100 more veterans in addition to the amount the organization serves now.

“The hall will also be used for conferences, weddings, graduations; the hall will be available for that,” Fisher said. “We need to have the revenue stream from the hall to help expand the services we have here.”

For more information on the construction of the hall visit savaw.org or contact Fisher directly at (410) 322-4610.