Parker F. Dunn

Bearing an urgent message, he pressed on despite his wounds.

Parker Francis Dunn was born in Albany, New York, on 8 August 1890. His mother died while he was young, and an aunt and uncle helped raise him. When the United States entered the First World War, he repeatedly tried to enlist but was rejected because of his eyesight. He was finally accepted in April 1918 and trained at Camp Dix.

Assigned to Company A, 312th Infantry Regiment, 78th Division, Dunn joined his battalion's intelligence section in France. He took part in the Saint-Mihiel offensive in September 1918. The section gathered information near the front and helped the battalion commander understand the positions opposing his troops.

On 23 October, during the Meuse-Argonne fighting near Grand-Pré, the commander needed to send a message to a forward company. Artillery and machine-gun fire swept the route, making the journey exceptionally dangerous. Dunn volunteered to carry it. He was wounded soon after leaving cover but continued. Hit a second time, he again attempted to move on. A machine-gun bullet killed him before he could reach the company.

His Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously in 1922 and accepted by his father. Dunn was buried in Saint Agnes Cemetery in Menands, New York. His name became familiar locally through the Dunn Memorial Bridge. The Army later honoured his intelligence service with induction into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame and the dedication of barracks at Fort Huachuca in 2012. His Medal of Honor is held by the Albany Institute of History and Art.

Medal of Honor citation:

When his battalion commander found it necessary to send a message to a company in the attacking line and hesitated to order a runner to make the trip because of the extreme danger involved, Pfc. Dunn, a member of the intelligence section, volunteered for the mission. After advancing but a short distance across a field swept by artillery and machine-gun fire, he was wounded, but continued on and fell wounded a second time. Still undaunted, he persistently attempted to carry out his mission until he was killed by a machine-gun bullet before reaching the advance line.