By Pfc. Daniel Boothe, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
6/13/2009

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Hundreds of friends, family and fellow firefighters paid tribute to the former Camp Pendleton firefighter, California-native and Marine, Sgt. Brian E. Dunlap by gathering at San Diego’s Hook and Ladder Firehouse Museum June 13.

The memorial case made for Sgt. Brian Dunlap.

The ceremony commemorated Dunlap with a permanent display of his dress blue and firefighter uniform that will remain in the museum. Camp Pendleton officials and firefighters were also in attendance honoring Dunlap’s heroic service.

“When I was deployed and found out about Brian’s death I thought to myself, ‘I am going to do the right thing,’” said Mathew Carr during the ceremony, former Marine and current firefighter, Fire Station 1, Camp Pendleton’s Fire and Emergency Services. “I am going to honor the memory of the guys that didn’t come home with us everyday by carrying the flag forward.”

San Diego’s Firefighters’ Emerald Society sponsored the event with contributions from the public and is currently collecting charitable donations for the Brian E. Dunlap Memorial Fund which will provide scholarship opportunities for future high school students.

Dunlap was killed in action on September 24, 2005 when an improvised explosive device detonated during combat operations in Al Taqaddum, Iraq, just north of Baghdad.

“Maria and I want to convey to Sgt. Dunlap’s family that we are forever indebted to Brian for giving his life to the cause of freedom. Californians are deeply grateful for his courage and dedication to service of this country,” said Gov. Arnold A. Schwarzenegger in a press release issued only days after Dunlap’s death.

Dunlap enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1995 and was honorably discharged in 2002. Soon after, he became a firefighter on Camp Pendleton for the California Department of Forestry and helped extinguish 2003’s deadly Cedar Fire. Dunlap was also personally thanked by former President George W. Bush during a visit to survey the California fire’s destruction.

He then reenlisted into the Marine Corps’ Reserve in 2004 and was attached to Marine Forces Reserve’s 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division in Los Alamitos, Calif. and soon deployed to northern Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

After his death, Dunlap was inducted into the International Association of Fire Fighters’ Wall of Honor in 2006.