Private First Class Dunkle was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in Korea on 2 December 1950. He was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Dunkle was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.