Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on Thursday, the White House has announced.

Dunham, of Scio, N.Y., died in 2004 after he jumped on a grenade to smother the blast and protect two other Marines.

A Marine in Dunham’s company later told Marine Corps News that Dunham “wanted to save Marines’ lives” when he dived on the grenade.

President Bush announced Nov. 10 that Dunham, of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, would receive the award for his actions in an Iraqi town near the Syrian border.

The Medal of Honor ceremony will take place 10 a.m. Thursday at the White House.

The fallen Marine will be the second U.S. servicemember to receive the military’s highest award for valor for service in Iraq. The other, Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, was honored for his actions in April 2003, killing up to 50 members of the Iraqi Republican Guard before dying from a head wound.

A third servicemember, Army Spc. Ross Andrew McGinnis, based out of Schweinfurt, Germany, also has been recommended for the Medal of Honor for his service in Iraq.

McGinnis was killed Dec. 4 in Baghdad after diving on a grenade that had been thrown into his Humvee, saving the lives of four other troops in the vehicle. He already has been awarded the Silver Star for his actions.