(DailyAnswer.org) – The death of a decorated Vietnam veteran is being investigated after a teenager beat him in front of his wife in a park. After the incident at the Harriet Island Regional Park in Minnesota on January 28, St. Paul Police arrived to find 76-year-old Thomas Dunne injured and bleeding from his eye. Dunne explained what happened in the fight before he was transported to hospital, where he died weeks later. Dunne and his wife had just finished a walk at the park before the incident at around 5 P.M. According to police, the injury was so serious that Dunne would not stop bleeding.
Dunne told police that he and his wife were driving when he saw a young male publicly urinating. He stopped to take a photograph for evidence purposes before the man and two others confronted him. After the group attempted to take Dunne’s phone, one of them punched him.
Police stated that they were able to identify the three suspects and charged one of them, a 17-year-old, with assault in the first degree. St. Paul Police Sergeant Mike Ernster stated that it could take weeks for the Ramsey County medical examiner to definitively establish an exact cause of death. The charges against the 17-year-old may be upgraded depending on the results.
Dunne is not the only Vietnam veteran to have died after a confrontation in Minnesota recently; in January 2024, 75-year-old Michael James Yanacheak died after being shocked with a taser by sheriff’s deputy Riley Kampsen. Officers were at the veteran’s house to serve a court order eviction over late rent. Yanacheak reportedly drew a knife in the incident before attempting to escape the property. After Kampsen tased the veteran, officers provided medical care at the scene. Yanacheak later died in the hospital.
Dunne served two tours in Vietnam and was in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve for over 20 years. Dunne received the Legion of Merit decoration for his service. According to Dunne’s wife, Heather Broderick, her husband had to have an operation on his eyeball that lasted over three hours. She thought he might have to live without an eye. After his release from hospital, Dunne experienced complications that forced him to return before he died on February 23.
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