NORTH MANKATO — American Legion Post 518 will fly a flag in March in honor of Army Spec. 4 Dale Eugene Wayrynen.
At 10 a.m. March 1, members will gather indoors at the post, 256 Belgrade Ave., to begin the monthlong Veteran of the Month tribute.
Wayrynen was born Jan. 18, 1947, in Moose Lake. He joined the U.S. Army in 1965, then served with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam.
During combat operations near Duc Pho, his platoon was assisting in the night evacuation of the wounded, when the lead man of the unit met face to face with a Viet Cong soldier. The lead man shouted a warning, which also alerted the enemy.
The lead man was wounded and knocked from his feet. Wayrynen, the second man in the formation, killed an enemy soldier who appeared on the trail, then dragged his injured companion back to where his squad had taken cover.
Suddenly, a live enemy grenade landed in the center of the tightly grouped men. Wayrynen, at the cost of his own life, shouted a warning, pushed one soldier out of the way, and threw himself on the grenade at the moment it exploded.
In October 1969, his family was flown to Washington, D.C., to receive his Medal of Honor posthumously.
Wayrynen is buried in Rice River Lutheran Cemetery at McGregor.
For more information, call Mark Conrad at 380-8405 or Post 518 at 625-1264.