By Lori EhdeU.S. Sen. Mark Dayton was in Luverne Wednesday to award a long-overdue Purple Heart to Luverne resident Anthony Dispanet.Dispanet is a Vietnam veteran who was injured in 1968 when enemy fire hit an ammunition supply near the M.A.S.H. unit where he worked as a medic."We’re a better nation for what you did," Dayton said during a small ceremony in the Dispanet home Wednesday. "It was an act of courage and compassion, and it redefines patriotism. … You acted to save lives without regard to your own life and safety. This is the ultimate definition of an American hero."Dispanet told the Star Herald prior to the ceremony that his minor wound didn’t warrant a Purple Heart. He did say the whole process rekindled 35-year-old memories, and on Wednesday he was overcome with emotion.Through tears, he accepted the award on behalf of those who didn’t come home from Vietnam. "I think they gave me some of their courage," Dispanet said.Dispanet was assigned to C Company Medical Battalion attached to the 1st Calvary at Camp Evans, located just 11 miles south of the demilitarized zone. When an enemy mortar hit the stored ammunition, the resulting explosions and fire took 13 hours to extinguish. Dispanet immediately began treating the numerous injured soldiers who had suffered shrapnel wounds and burns. He didn't realize until everyone had been cared for that he, too, had been hit by shrapnel."When the dust settled and it was all over, I noticed there was a small laceration on my leg," Dispanet said Tuesday. "To be honest, I can’t even remember which leg."He said he’s known since discharge that he’s been eligible for the Purple Heart, but he’s never felt that worthy of it."Looking back, it was quite insignificant compared with a lot of others who were injured," Dispanet said. "But it was considered a wound incurred in a hostile situation."His brother Jim, San Antonio, Tex., encouraged him to get the medal, and ended up making many of the arrangements.Dispanet said the medal serves more as a reminder of what he’s been through, than as a reward for bravery. "It dredges up lots of memories and thoughts of what happened back then with the fellas I was with," he said Tuesday.While the shrapnel injury was insignificant to his long-term health, Dispanet was diagnosed in December 2000 with multiple myeloma. The plasma cell cancer has been linked to the herbicide Agent Orange that was used to clear fields in Vietnam during the war.After a stem-cell transplant, the cancer went into remission, but Dispanet recently discovered the illness has returned.Dispanet and his wife, Barb, have a son Anthony (Ace), a daughter-in-law, Shannon, and a 3-year-old grandson, Amos, who is named after Tony's dad. His brothers are Tim, Luverne, and James, San Antonio, Tex.‘Put Mark to Work For You’ at ethanol plantDayton was also in Luverne this week as part of his "Put Mark to Work For You" program.On Tuesday, he helped staff at the Agri-Energy Ethanol Plant with some daily tasks, such as weighing trucks, fixing plant equipment, testing ethanol samples and loading feed trucks."It gets me out of the office and out of a suit," Dayton said, when asked about the point of his work visits. "It’s a great educational experience for me."He said working along side his constituents gives him a chance to engage in meaningful conversation on timely concerns."I’m a real good dishwasher," he said. "If I go and wash dishes with staff in a school kitchen, I might get a sense of the issues affecting that school and its students and employees."He said he prefers to help with simple tasks that don’t require special skills."That setting lends itself more to sharing information," Dayton said. "Some might be more likely to ask questions in that setting that they may not feel comfortable asking in a room full of people."In the past several months of the program, Dayton has worked on a farm, in a veterans home kitchen, on a construction site, in a school classroom, and on a Habitat home.
