HEROES:MOH Recipient Kern Wayne Dunagan Traditional Cache
HEROES:MOH Recipient Kern Wayne Dunagan
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size:  (small)
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While caching this summer across the U.S. we discovered a
“Power Cache” series in Nevada. There were 120 caches
placed along a dirt road and they were close enough for us to log
100 caches in one day! It was a real thrill to log so many caches
in one day… so we would like to give all of you the
opportunity to do the same.
We thought it would be nice to put these caches out for Veterans
Day, so we chose 100 of the 246 Medal of Honor Recipients from the
Vietnam War, and each one of the caches will honor one of these
American Heroes. Of the 246 MOH Recipients from the Vietnam War 63%
were awarded posthumously. ( ** Represents MOH Awarded
Posthumously) Please take the time to read the citation for each
and remember them this Veterans Day.
HAVE FUN!!
Kern Wayne Dunagan
Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army, Company A, 1st Battalion,
46th Infantry, Americal Division. Place and date: Quang Tin
Province, Republic of Vietnam, 13 May 1969. Entered service at: Los
Angeles, Calif. Born: 20 February 1934, Superior, Ariz. Citation:
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.
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