The president will present the Medal of Honor to the family of Cpl. Jason Dunham during a ceremony in the White House’s East Room on Thursday, according to White House officials.

Dunham was an infantryman assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, when he was severely wounded in Karabilah, Iraq, on April 14, 2004, after smothering an enemy grenade with his body and helmet to save fellow Marines. He succumbed to his wounds eight days later.

“By giving his own life, Corporal Dunham saved the lives of two of his men and showed the world what it means to be a Marine,” President Bush said during his Nov. 10 announcement that Dunham would posthumously receive the nation’s highest decoration for combat heroism.

Dunham becomes the first Marine to earn the Medal of Honor in more than 30 years and one of only two U.S. service members to be awarded the medal since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began.