Criteria The National Defense Service Medal is awarded for honorable active service as a member of the Armed Forces during the Korean War, Vietnam War, the war against Iraq in the Persian Gulf, and for service... The National Defense Service Medal is awarded for honorable active service as a member of the Armed Forces during the Korean War, Vietnam War, the war against Iraq in the Persian Gulf, and for service during the current War on Terrorism. In addition, all members of the National Guard and Reserve who were part of the Selected Reserve in good standing between August 2, 1990, to November 30, 1995, are eligible for the National Defense Service Medal. In the case of Navy personnel, Midshipment attending the Naval Academy during the qualifying periods are eligible for this award, and Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) Midshipmen ae only eligible if they participated in a summer cruise that was in an area which qualified for a campaign medal. MoreHide
Criteria The Navy Good Conduct Medal (NGCM) is a decoration presented by the United States Navy to recognize members who have completed three years of honorable service. Medals awarded before January 1, 1996 r... The Navy Good Conduct Medal (NGCM) is a decoration presented by the United States Navy to recognize members who have completed three years of honorable service. Medals awarded before January 1, 1996 required four years of service. MoreHide
Criteria The Navy Good Conduct Medal (NGCM) is a decoration presented by the United States Navy to recognize members who have completed three years of honorable service. Medals awarded before January 1, 1996 r... The Navy Good Conduct Medal (NGCM) is a decoration presented by the United States Navy to recognize members who have completed three years of honorable service. Medals awarded before January 1, 1996 required four years of service. MoreHide
Criteria The Navy Good Conduct Medal (NGCM) is a decoration presented by the United States Navy to recognize members who have completed three years of honorable service. Medals awarded before January 1, 1996 r... The Navy Good Conduct Medal (NGCM) is a decoration presented by the United States Navy to recognize members who have completed three years of honorable service. Medals awarded before January 1, 1996 required four years of service. MoreHide
Criteria The National Defense Service Medal is awarded for honorable active service as a member of the Armed Forces during the Korean War, Vietnam War, the war against Iraq in the Persian Gulf, and for service... The National Defense Service Medal is awarded for honorable active service as a member of the Armed Forces during the Korean War, Vietnam War, the war against Iraq in the Persian Gulf, and for service during the current War on Terrorism. In addition, all members of the National Guard and Reserve who were part of the Selected Reserve in good standing between August 2, 1990, to November 30, 1995, are eligible for the National Defense Service Medal. In the case of Navy personnel, Midshipment attending the Naval Academy during the qualifying periods are eligible for this award, and Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) Midshipmen ae only eligible if they participated in a summer cruise that was in an area which qualified for a campaign medal. MoreHide
Criteria The Navy Good Conduct Medal (NGCM) is a decoration presented by the United States Navy to recognize members who have completed three years of honorable service. Medals awarded before January 1, 1996 r... The Navy Good Conduct Medal (NGCM) is a decoration presented by the United States Navy to recognize members who have completed three years of honorable service. Medals awarded before January 1, 1996 required four years of service. MoreHide
Criteria The Bronze Star Medal may be awarded to individuals who, while serving in any capacity with the Armed Forces of the United States in a combat theater, distinguish themselves by heroism, outstanding ac... The Bronze Star Medal may be awarded to individuals who, while serving in any capacity with the Armed Forces of the United States in a combat theater, distinguish themselves by heroism, outstanding achievement, or by meritorious service not involving aerial flight. MoreHide
Comments Dennig was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War (1942-1945, 3 1/2 years) decorations from the Philippine government.
Dick was a member of VFW, American Legion, Ex POW's DAV, Defend... Dennig was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War (1942-1945, 3 1/2 years) decorations from the Philippine government.
Dick was a member of VFW, American Legion, Ex POW's DAV, Defenders of Battann & Corregidor, MOAA and other military and civilian organizations related to WWII. MoreHide
Criteria The Prisoner of War Medal commemorates military service as a prisoner of war. It is awarded to any member of the Armed Forces who, since April 5, 1917, has been or shall be taken prisoner or held capt... The Prisoner of War Medal commemorates military service as a prisoner of war. It is awarded to any member of the Armed Forces who, since April 5, 1917, has been or shall be taken prisoner or held captive while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly forces engaged in armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States in not a belligerent party. MoreHide
Comments Dennig was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War (1942-1945, 3 1/2 years) decorations from the Philippine government.
Dick was a member of VFW, American Legion, Ex POW's DAV, Defend... Dennig was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War (1942-1945, 3 1/2 years) decorations from the Philippine government.
Dick was a member of VFW, American Legion, Ex POW's DAV, Defenders of Battann & Corregidor, MOAA and other military and civilian organizations related to WWII. MoreHide
Criteria
The World War II Victory Medal commemorates military service during the Second World War.
Description Dennig was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War (1941-1945, 3 1/2 years) decorations from the Philippine government.
Dick was a member of VFW, American Legion, Ex POW's DAV, Defend... Dennig was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War (1941-1945, 3 1/2 years) decorations from the Philippine government.
Dick was a member of VFW, American Legion, Ex POW's DAV, Defenders of Battann & Corregidor, MOAA and other military and civilian organizations related to WWII. MoreHide
Other Memories
POW, or Prisoner of War, a term many believe they've come to know, reduces extraordinary circumstances to so little. The exception to that rule is when, over years of use, the abbreviation itself becomes like a word in colloquial language. POW has that distinction.
Barefoot Bay's Richard A. Dennig was a prisoner of the Japanese army and navy for three years during World War II.
His tour was up and his ship was about to go home when war was declared and they literally turned around and headed toward the Philippine Islands.
He was aboard a submarine tender, the USS Canopus, Dennig said at a recent Loyalty Day ceremony in Barefoot Bay .
On Dec. 6, 1941 , with his ship tied at the naval yard near Manila Bay , while on watch duty Dennig received messages that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor . It was early morning for them; he spread the word throughout the ship.
The crew then moved the Canopus to Manila Bay about three days later, Dennig reports. The Japanese bombed Clark Air Force Base outside Manila , taking out B-17s and P40 fighters. According to Dennig, they "...blew almost all of 'em up!"
The Canopus stayed at the pier in Manila Bay and Dennig said the Japanese bombed all around them. The Canopus was spared for the time being.
Dennig, originally from Minnesota , was 21 years old at the time; his rank in the Navy was Storekeeper Second Class.
The crew then took the Canopus southwest of Manila Bay , to Mariveles on the Bataan Peninsula where they docked at a mountain with netting over them for cover. They operated at night there for a time, tending to submarines with everything from re-supply of food and water to repairs as they had a full machine shop on board. They were discovered and the Japanese dropped one bomb directly down the smokestack to the bottom of the ship where he said it took out the propeller shaft, disabling her.
Orders came in to surrender Bataan Peninsula to the Japanese and the Philippines were ordered to surrender.
On April 8, 1942 the crew took the Canopus out in the waters between Corrigador Island , and the Bataan Peninsula , opened all the valves and sank her, Dennig said. As far as Dennig knows, Canopus is still there.
Dennig said most of the sailors got on motor launches to the small mountainous island of Corrigador where they were to defend their side with machine guns against a Japanese landing. There is only about four miles between the Peninsula and the island they were defending. He said it took the enemy three to four days to take them.
At first they were taken to an airfield and stripped of everything but their clothes, then taken to Manila on motor launches where they were unloaded in waist-deep water and paraded down the streets of downtown Manila , Dennig said.
They were then taken to Bilibib prison for three days and finally put on cargo ships.
Dennig said some Japanese submarines carrying American POWs may have been sunk by the U.S. forces as they had no way of knowing what they were carrying. He was on the upper deck of a Japanese ship that was "shelled" and missed.
Dennig said he was then taken by Japanese cattle boat to Osaka , Japan . The trip lasted, he said, about three weeks where they were kept in the hold. It was so crowded there was not even room to sit let alone lie down.
Dennig said nine or 10 of the men died on the trip and were buried at sea.
They arrived at Osaka prison camp Umeda Bunsho on Thanksgiving Day 1942.
There were 400 American Army, Navy and Marines there.
There was a great deal of abuse for minor infractions at the camp, he reported in a document of his testimony taken after his return to the United States at the United States Naval Center in Idaho .
The document testifies to many cases of abuse and improper treatment of prisoners of war, including Japanese officer names. It states that by 1945, of the over 400 men originally taken prisoner at that camp, "...approximately 130 of them had died due to malnutrition and disease."
The second camp Dennig said he was transferred to was at Tsuruga , Japan , where they loaded and unloaded boxcars and ships. Here his testimonial document details more physical abuse by Japanese soldiers as well as abuse of Red Cross supplies.
"The Japanese had parties on the Red Cross food that the Americans had sent for our relief," Dennig said.
By then, Dennig said, the Americans were doing a good job going north.
"They came with incendiary bombs, the very first one hit our building!" He said most of them got in the water and ducked under, not that it would have saved them from a direct hit.
As the U.S. burned the entire town, about a mile and a half, he said, they were moved two miles back and had to walk those miles to and from the loading area daily. This continued until Japan surrendered.
With the worst of his ordeal over, Dennig was finally returned home, where his parents, his sister and her best friend, Dorothy, were eagerly waiting for him. His mother had painstakingly kept a scrapbook of every letter from him, or about him and every piece of mail from the military during and at the end of his ordeal, as well as newspaper clippings.
His sister's best friend later became his wife and they have shared more than 50 years of marriage.
Dennig re-enlisted in the Navy until he retired with numerous awards for his varied achievements.
Description The American Theater was a minor area of operations during World War II. This was mainly due to both North and South America's geographical separation from the central theaters of conflict in Europe aThe American Theater was a minor area of operations during World War II. This was mainly due to both North and South America's geographical separation from the central theaters of conflict in Europe and Asia. Thus, any threat by the Axis Powers to invade the mainland United States or other areas was considered negligible, allowing for American resources to be deployed in overseas theaters.
This article includes attacks on continental territory, extending 200 miles (320 km) into the ocean, which is today under the sovereignty of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and several other smaller states, but excludes military action involving the Danish territory of Greenland, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Aleutian Islands. The most well known battles in North America during World War II were the Attack on Pearl Harbor (the first attack on US soil since the Battle of Ambos Nogales), the Aleutian Islands Campaign, the Battle of the St. Lawrence, and the attacks on Newfoundland.... More
People You Remember
USS CANOPUS AS-9, submarine tender.
Memories Disguised as a bombed out, listing, abandoned hulk, smoke pots were placed around the ship and givinDisguised as a bombed out, listing, abandoned hulk, smoke pots were placed around the ship and giving the appearance of an abandoned hulk by day, while the ship hummed with activity by night. Her crew worked at a fevered pace repairing the smaller ships also left behind and keeping the submarines in action.
Just before the New Year, the last of the submarines left Canopus, but she never quit as she cared for small craft and equipment of the Army and Navy, sent her men into battle in the improvised naval battalion which fought on Bataan, and converted her own launches into miniature gunboats dubbed Mickey Mouse Battleships which attacked the Japanese moving south near the shore. But the overwhelming Japanese strength could not be held off forever, and upon the surrender of Bataan on the night of 8/9 April 1942 CANOPUS was ordered scuttled in Mariveles Bay, Bataan, to deny her use to the enemy. On 9 April, she was backed off into deep water under her own power and the veteran whom the Japanese could not sink ended a lifetime of service to the Navy when she was laid to rest by her own men.
221 of her crewmen were evacuated to Corregidor on 28 February 1942 and served with the Marines 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions on beach defenses. The final 327 crewmen were also evacuated to Corregidor and served in the 4 Marine Regiment's 4th Battalion Reserves (Provisional) which fought gallantly during the final battle for the island fortress. Nearly all Canopus crewmen were captured at the fall of Corregidor and spent the rest of the war in Japanese POW Camps in the Philippines and the Asia mainland.... More
Criteria The Purple Heart may be awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the Armed Forces, has been wounded, kill... The Purple Heart may be awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the Armed Forces, has been wounded, killed, or who has died or may die of wounds received in armed combat or as a result of an act of international terrorism. MoreHide
Comments Dennig was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War (1942-1945, 3 1/2 years) decorations from the Philippine government.
Dick was a member of VFW, American Legion, Ex POW's DAV, Defend... Dennig was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War (1942-1945, 3 1/2 years) decorations from the Philippine government.
Dick was a member of VFW, American Legion, Ex POW's DAV, Defenders of Battann & Corregidor, MOAA and other military and civilian organizations related to WWII. MoreHide
Criteria The Navy Good Conduct Medal (NGCM) is a decoration presented by the United States Navy to recognize members who have completed three years of honorable service. Medals awarded before January 1, 1996 r... The Navy Good Conduct Medal (NGCM) is a decoration presented by the United States Navy to recognize members who have completed three years of honorable service. Medals awarded before January 1, 1996 required four years of service. MoreHide
Other Memories
Went to Boot Camp at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. At boot camp I choose the Orient for Service Duty.
Sent on an Oil Tanker and upon arrival in the Philippines I was assigned to the USS Canopus, a Submarine Tender.
We made trips to China and the southern Philippines which every sailor enjoyed because we saw a part of the world that we had never seen before.
After one of the cruises the Canopus was tied up to a peer at Marvales Naval Base in the Philippines. At the peer I was on watch. The radio was on a U.S. station when I heard the news that was the shock of our life, THE JAPANESE HAD BOMBED PEARL HARBOR!
Criteria The American Campaign Medal was awarded for For thirty days service outside the Continental United States but within the American Theater of Operations between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946; or,... The American Campaign Medal was awarded for For thirty days service outside the Continental United States but within the American Theater of Operations between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946; or, an aggregate service of one year within the Continental United States during the same period under the following circumstances: On permanent assignment outside the continental limits of the United States; or, On permanent assignment as a member of a crew of a vessel sailing ocean waters for a period of 30 consecutive days or 60 non-consecutive days; or, For service outside the continental limits of the United States in a passenger status or on temporary duty for 30 consecutive days or 60 non consecutive days; or, For service in active combat against the enemy and awarded a combat decoration or furnished a certificate by the commanding general of a corps, higher unit, or independent force that the individual actually participated in combat; or, For service within the continental limits of the United States for an aggregate period of one year. MoreHide
Criteria The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded for for qualifying service within the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946, under any of the following condi... The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded for for qualifying service within the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946, under any of the following conditions: On permanent assignment within the Asiatic-Pacific Theater; or, For service in a passenger status or on temporary duty for 30 consecutive days or 60 non-consecutive days; or, For service in active combat in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations against the enemy and awarded a combat decoration or furnished a certificate by the commanding general of a corps, higher unit, or independent force that the individual actually participated in combat. MoreHide
Criteria The American Defense Service Medal was awarded for service in the Armed Forces between September 8, 1939, and December 7, 1941. Army members had to serve 12 months to be eligible, but Navy and Marine ... The American Defense Service Medal was awarded for service in the Armed Forces between September 8, 1939, and December 7, 1941. Army members had to serve 12 months to be eligible, but Navy and Marine Corps members were eligible based on any length of service. MoreHide
Other Memories
Went to Boot Camp at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. At boot camp I choose the Orient for Service Duty.
Sent on an Oil Tanker and upon arrival in the Philippines I was assigned to the USS Canopus, a Submarine Tender.
We made trips to China and the southern Philippines which every sailor enjoyed because we saw a part of the world that we had never seen before.
After one of the cruises the Canopus was tied up to a peer at Marvales Naval Base in the Philippines. At the peer I was on watch. The radio was on a U.S. station when I heard the news that was the shock of our life, THE JAPANESE HAD BOMBED PEARL HARBOR!
Umeda POW Camp Roster:
Dennig, Richard Alphonse, SK1C, 3285389, USN