Capt. Stephen Reid Dunagan (1827-1894)

Stephen Reid Dunagan's parents were Ezekiel Dunagan (1771-1836) and Margaret "Peggy" Wallace(Wallis) and he was born in Hall County, Georgia in 1827. After his father died in 1836, he along with his mother and siblings moved to Alabama to live with relatives.

In the Civil War, Stephen Reid Dunagan rose to the rank of Captain and served as a calvary officer with the CSA, Company G, 4th. Alabama Calvary also known as Russell's Rangers. They say that he had red hair and a red beard and must have been an imposing figure when leading a calvary charge. After the CSA surrender, Captain Dunagan moved his family from Alabama, first, to Texas, and later to New Mexico.

Captain Stephen Reid Dunagan was born September 25, 1827, in Gainesville, Hall County, Georgia and died April 17, 1894, in Lordsburg, Hidalgo County, New Mexico. He married Eliza Ann Turk Woode who was born June 17, 1829 in Gainesville, Hall County, Georgia and she died on April 27, 1894, only ten days after her husband's death. They had the following children:

Mary Jane Juliana Dunagan 1847 – 1865

Martha Jane Indiana Dunagan 1848 – 1921

Lorenzo Dow Dunagan 1849 – 1929

Colin Helen Dunagan 1852 – 1870

L Georgia Ann Dunagan 1854 – 1934

Missouri Ann Clifford Dunagan 1856 – 1934

Ezekial Jackson Dunagan 1859 – 1885

Stephen Reid Dunagan 1861 – 1936

Robert "Bob" Jefferson Dunagan 1863 – 1922

Ida Dunagan 1868 –

Stephen R Dunagan (Jr.)was born in Birmingham, Blount County, Alabama on January 10, 1861, and died February 25, 1936, in Animas, Hidalgo County, New Mexico. He married Delilah Ann Conner who was born August 31, 1876, in Brownwood, Brown County, Texas, and she died May 19, 1964, in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona. They had the following children:

Benjamin Stephen Dunagan

Walter Ezekiel Dunagan

Marvin Gee Dunagan

Mary Eliza Dunagan

Charles Holmes Dunagan

Robert Dow Dunagan

Daniel Boone Dunagan

Stephen Reid Dunagan

Below is Stephen R. Dunagan's obituary published in 1936 and a photo of the family taken a few years earlier:

Click on to enlarge

I have always believed that heroes are born, not made. Stephen Reid Dunagan's descendants should be proud of their pioneer heritage and the men who were willing to fight in service of this great country. Ezekiel Dunagan fought in the War of 1812, his son Stephen Reid Dunagan, was a gallant calvary officer during the War of Northern Aggression, aka the Civil War. From the time this family set foot on these shores, Dunagan men and women have fought and served in every war that America has known since it's founding. Thomas "Tommie" Dunagan enlisted as a private in the Continental Army of North Carolina to fight for America's independence and his brother Joseph Dunagan, Ezekiel's father, served with the state militias fighting the British and in the Indian Wars.

Kern Wayne Dunagan is the son of Robert Dow Dunagan (standing in photo/light jacket) and Olive Vea Mize, grandson of Stephen R. Dunagan (1861-1936) and Delilah Ann Conner, great-grandson of Captain Stephen Reid Dunagan and Eliza Ann Turk Woode.

Captain Kern Dunagan received the Medal of Honor, this nation's highest honor, for his service as a U. S. Army officer in Vietnam. The medal was awarded "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty."

Medal of Honor citation

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.^[1]