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In Memoriam: Donald G. Dunn (1923-2021)

August 18, 2021

In Memoriam: Donald G. Dunn (1923-2021)

Donald G. Dunn

Written by Professor Bruno Cabanes, the Donald G. and Mary A. Dunn Chair in Modern Military History

Donald Dunn was a friend of the History department at The Ohio State University, passionate about history, generous and supportive.

A veteran of the 10th Mountain Division in the Allied campaign in Italy, he was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his heroism on Hill 775, where he kept leading his men onward after being hit by a sniper’s bullet in the chest.

After the war, he built the newly-founded Plaskolite from a small business manufacturing drinking straws to a company making everything from mirrors to lighting panels, investing in new technologies, and employing 900 people. He soon became an important figure of the economic, social and political life in the Columbus area.

In 2013, the Donald G. Dunn Scholarship Fund was initiated to provide support to OSU undergraduate and graduate students in their World War II study abroad program. The following year, the Dunn family generously established the Chair in Modern Military History that I have the honor to hold, in recognition for his service and in loving memory of his wife Mary, who passed away in 1996.

In a conversation with his friend Pete Mansoor, who was instrumental in the creation of the Donald G. and Mary A. Dunn Chair, he expressed the hope that the world going forward would be stronger with the careful study of the disasters of the past.

I will treasure the memories of our conversations, of the dinner party hosted at the faculty club for the inauguration of the Dunn Chair, of his inspiring visit to my graduate seminar, and of the kind notes he used to send me when I published a new book.

He was one of the last survivors of the Greatest Generation, and a great man himself. It was a privilege to get to know him.


A look back at Donald G. Dunn and Professor Peter R. Mansoor discussing Mr. Dunn's military experiences during WWII, a trip back to Europe with his family to view the areas where he fought, and mention of establishment of the Donald G. and Mary A. Dunn Chair in Military History in the Department of History at The Ohio State University.