A man, a stone, a story

(Sentinel photo by Magdalene Landegent) Ronald Kunkel, of Moville, watches during the dedication of a new grave stone in Le Mars' Calvary Cemetery for his father Dale Kunkel, who gave his life during World War II, fighting in Europe. The new stone tells Kunkel's story and the story of WWII for future generations to read. [Click to enlarge]

But today a new stone marks his grave.

It tells the story he cannot.

On Friday, along with 50 family members and friends, Dale's sons, Ronald and Kenneth, placed a new grave marker on his grave in Calvary Cemetery in Le Mars.

Etched in the stone is Dale's story.

A member of the 394th Infantry Regiment of the 99th Infantry Division, Dale bid his two sons and wife goodbye and left for war in the early 1940s. He would return in a flag-draped casket.

In General Omar Bradley's 12th Army Group, Dale's units took the brunt of the German offensive.

At the Battle of the Bulge on Dec. 16, 1944, Dale fought with his fellow soldiers, wounded and surrounded, holding back the final big German offensive in WWII. The Allied forces, including Dale, went on to take the Bridge by Remagen, the last standing bridge over the Rhine River. The Allied forces' success meant 8,000 U.S. troops, plus tanks full of supplies, could cross into the German heartland.

That was Dale's final battle.

On March 13, 1945, in the fight for the bridge, Dale became one of more than 400,000 American soldiers to die in WWII.

Only two months later, May 18, 1945, Allied forces declared V-E Day, victory in Europe. The German forces had surrendered.

Now, 60 years later near Memorial Day, Dale's family and friends gathered at his second grave site -- he'd been buried in England for five years and was brought home in 1949 -- to honor his memory.

Commander Larry Baer and the American Legion Wasmer Post provided military honors, including "Taps" and a 21-gun salute.

"We're showing our respect for a veteran who gave his life. We've done military funerals before, but we've never done this," he said of the ceremony marking the new stone.

Richard Masuen, one of Dale's fellow soldiers, walked slowly to the microphone and spoke.

He shared a memory of the time Dale turned to him and asked him to make a promise.

"He said, 'Take care of my boys if something happens,'" Masuen said.

Years later, Masuen would be the man to set Dale's original grave stone in Calvary Cemetery.

"I visit the grave -- and it's always been a little stone," Masuen said, saying it didn't do Dale's service justice.

Ron said he hoped the new stone would better fit the man he was proud to call "father."

"This stone will continue to tell the story of these brave soldiers for 100 or 150 years," Ron said.

"It's recognizing that generations -- the greatest generation -- meant something. There are so few left," he added. "We're proud to be able to do something so future generations will identify with them. They may not have known him, but now they know of them and how they served."