FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Col Kern W Dunagan ~ October 11, 2010

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[Kathy in Alaska]

 

Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

COL Kern W. Dunagan

Info from here.

           

Kern W. Dunagan (February 20, 1934 – December 27, 1991) was a United States Army officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War.

Dunagan joined the Army from Los Angeles, California, and by May 13, 1969 was serving as a captain in Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry Regiment, Americal Division. During a firefight on that day, in Quang Tin Province, Republic of Vietnam, Dunagan showed conspicuous leadership as he organized his men and rescued wounded soldiers despite his own wounds. He was subsequently promoted to major and awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. Dunagan reached the rank of colonel before leaving the Army. He died at age 57 and was buried in San Francisco National Cemetery, San Francisco, California.

Major Dunagan's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Maj. (then Capt.) Dunagan distinguished himself during the period May 13 and 14, 1969, while serving as commanding officer, Company A. On May 13, 1969, Maj. Dunagan was leading an attack to relieve pressure on the battalion's forward support base when his company came under intense fire from a well-entrenched enemy battalion. Despite continuous hostile fire from a numerically superior force, Maj. Dunagan repeatedly and fearlessly exposed himself in order to locate enemy positions, direct friendly supporting artillery, and position the men of his company. In the early evening, while directing an element of his unit into perimeter guard, he was seriously wounded during an enemy mortar attack, but he refused to leave the battlefield and continued to supervise the evacuation of dead and wounded and to lead his command in the difficult task of disengaging from an aggressive enemy. In spite of painful wounds and extreme fatigue, Maj. Dunagan risked heavy fire on 2 occasions to rescue critically wounded men. He was again seriously wounded. Undaunted, he continued to display outstanding courage, professional competence, and leadership and successfully extricated his command from its untenable position on the evening of May 14. Having maneuvered his command into contact with an adjacent friendly unit, he learned that a 6-man party from his company was under fire and had not reached the new perimeter. Maj. Dunagan unhesitatingly went back and searched for his men. Finding 1 soldier critically wounded, Maj. Dunagan, ignoring his wounds, lifted the man to his shoulders and carried him to the comparative safety of the friendly perimeter. Before permitting himself to be evacuated, he insured all of his wounded received emergency treatment and were removed from the area. Throughout the engagement, Maj. Dunagan's actions gave great inspiration to his men and were directly responsible for saving the lives of many of his fellow soldiers. Maj. Dunagan's extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission! 

[oldteen]

Rest up for the trip, HJ. If making it round trip in 1 day that can be very tiring and stressful. Drive safely and have a good trip!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Silentgypsy.....Star does indeed bring the Canteen great stories of our great heroes. Thanks for joining in.

[luvie]

Silliness is a good thing!

Nite, Procon...have a GREAT week! (((hugs)))

[oldteen]

And you only needed 5 feet of line, a hook and a sinker

I don't remember how many feet of line it was, but a hook and a sinker was all it had. I don't even remember how he put it together but it sure didn't have a reel...lol.

After about 2 years he told me if I wanted to continue fishing with him I'd have to bait my own hook and learn to clean the fish. Them worms were squirmy but I managed. The first time I opened that catfish was really scary! But, I did it!

[luvie]

Awwwwww.....Piper is getting SO grown-up looking! I hope she
had a wonderful birthday with y’all!

[oldteen]

Evenin' Sandy! *hugs*

Congrats to the newlyweds! And you and the Mrs.!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good night and rest well, Pro. Thanks for helping honor our troops and thank you for your service to our country.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Can’t we all be friends? I’ll get rid of the means to protect the United States....when I do, will do it too? Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!!

[oldteen]

I'm not finished with things to do so I need to get busy and get them done!

Hope everyone has a wonderful tomorrow! G'night! *HUGS* around!

[freedumb2003]

Thanks for this inspiring post, Kathy.

Col. Dunagan both shames me (for not being nearly the man he was) and inspires me (to meet the standard he set).

I will take the latter as how we should all approach life. I pray that I will meet adversity with 1/100 of his moxie.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good night and sleep tight, teen, after you finish your things to do.
Prayers for cooler weather, no allergies, and you and yours.

I'm working on the same sorta stuff.

Have a good Monday...*HUGS*

[BIGLOOK]

Aloha po, Teenster. I’m soon to follow after a day of sun and salt spray.

[Kathy in Alaska]

I learned something new from this article...a couple recent articles said it could take upwards of 2 hours to get one man out in the rescue capsule, but this article says,"The device will take about 12-15 minutes to complete the ascent at the speed of about three feet a second."

Can't wait for the miners to finally be rescued.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, onedoug, for dropping by and helping honor a true hero.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, tiapam...thanks for helping honor our heroes, and a Blessed Lord’s Day to you.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Short and to the point answer. LOL!

Maybe pink bamboo would work?

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[E.G.C.]

A very pleasant good morning to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country.

((HUGS))Good morning, Ladies. Thanks for this morning's thread, Star. How's it going?

[Kathy in Alaska]

I can just imagine how excited the wahines were to see the seal.

[tomkow6]

 

 

 

 

 Good morning, Star!

Good morning, Kathy!

Good morning,

EVERYBODY!

GOOD

MORNING

TROOPS!