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

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[Kathy in Alaska]

 

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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! 

[PROCON]

Last time I encountered a seal in Hawaii was years ago on Kauai.

That's me, center, 1st row!

[oldteen]

The kids weren't disappointed at all......and that's the important thing.

If the kids were happy then it was good day! :)

[oldteen]

Yeeeah...OK. Fantasize much?

[tiapam]

Thanks, OT(are you called that? OT reminds me of Over Time! LOL!)! It nice to be over on the Canteen, too! I recently asked Kathy if she would ping me it? And being the nice person that I am, she said “of course”! L O L!! You know I’m just kidding, I hope!

[oldteen]

I answer to almost anything. :)

[luvie]

yeah, yeah...WHATever! LOL!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Fishing!!! Aloha, Hawaii....were they biting today? What fun.

And I found a couple stories of little ones catching 20# fish!

[BIGLOOK]

Aloha again Night Owl!

That's amazing.....the same fishing poles they demanded we buy at Walmart this morning.

Asked my son why he didn't make them poles from a stand of fishing pole bamboo that I'd planted years ago. He said, because they aren't pink. 'Tana loves pink.

[HiJinx]

fishing with little Barbie fishing poles

Reminded me of a picture I got on the cell phone last month...Piper's first fish with her Grandpa. Poppa needs to get her out to where she can catch a keeper!

[PROCON]

Well, enough of my silliness!

It is beddy-bye time for me so see ya FRiends soon!

[BIGLOOK]

Aloha Jinxy!

I'm surprised she didn't declare that one a keeper. Good first start though.....

[oldteen]

why he didn't make them poles from a stand of fishing pole bamboo

That is exactly what my Dad did for my first fishing pole. It lasted me for quite some time. And even caught me some fish...lol.

[tiapam]

Somehow, I find that to be true! LOL! *HUGS* to you!!

[oldteen]

Evenin' HJ! *hugs*

How ya doin'?

[oldteen]

G’night FRiend! Rest well and have a wonderful Monday! *hugs*

[BIGLOOK]

And you only needed 5 feet of line, a hook and a sinker......and it didn't cost $10!

Kids these days...!

[SandRat]

Well... Desert Coyote is a married woman now. Lots of guests, good food, good music, dancing, and She had the band play ‘I'll be Seeing You’ from the ‘40s dedicated to her Grandpa and her late Grandma and their 64 years of marriage.

[HiJinx]

I’d be doing great if I hadn’t made a massive boo-boo today - we brought Piper’s medicine bag home with us instead of leaving it with her Dad to take home.

So now, I’m planning to drive back to Phoenix in the morning with the bag. There’s no mail pick-up tomorrow, so I can’t get it back to her in less than 2-3 days any other way.

That said, I think I’m going to head to bed so I can be well rested for tomorrow’s trip. It’s about 200 miles one way...

[HiJinx]

Congratulations to DC! And to you, Dad. Well done.
Now, the great adventure begins for the two of them.
I wish them all the best.

[luvie]

Thanks for the update; I know you are happy for her, as we are. Congrats to the happy couple!