Harold Denny
| Harold Denny | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1880-03-11 Des Moines |
| Died | 1945-07-03 Des Moines |
| Occupation | journalist |
| Known for | Captured by during World War II while serving as a war correspondent |
Harold Denny (1880-1945) was a war correspondent who covered four major U.S. wars and worked for the Des Moines Register, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Minneapolis Tribune, and The New York Times.[1]
Denny had studied at Drake University, and began his newspaper career in 1913. He served in the United States Army's Rainbow Division during World War One, rising from Private, to Sergeant, prior to being wounded.[2] His obituary said he covered four wars, one rebellion, and the sixth undeclared war on the Manchurian border between the Soviet Union and Japan.[2] He covered other important international stories, including the Moscow show trials. He wrote a book based on his coverage of unrest in Nicaragua, entitled "Dollars for Bullets".
Denny married Jean Bullitt Lowery, in Moscow, in 1936.[1] She was an American woman, fifteen years his junior, from Kentucky.[3] She predeceased him on May 21, 1943.
He was captured in November 1941, in Libya, while working there as a war correspondent, and was imprisoned as a POW.[2][1] During his imprisonment he was interrogated by the Gestapo. He wrote "Behind both Lines" on his experience as a POW, after he was repatriated in May 1942.[4]
He returned to work as a war correspondent, and covered the Invasion of Normandy, and the American advance into Germany, including being wounded during the Battle of the Bulge.[2]
After World War II ended in Europe, Denny was visiting his sister, in Des Moines, when he suffered a fatal heart attack, on July 3, 1945.[2]
Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson honored war correspondents, including Denny, at an event in Washington, on November 23, 1946.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 TIMES REPORTER CAPTIVE IN LIBYA; Harold Denny and Anderson of Associated Press Named by Rome Ministry, The New York Times, 1941-11-29, p. 2. Retrieved on 2020-11-27.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 HAROLD DENNY, 56, JOURNALIST, DEAD; War Correspondent of Times, Ex-Prisoner of Nazis, Victim of Heart Attack in Des Moines WORLD BATTLES HIS BEAT Wrote From Nicaragua, Africa, Finland, Russia--Wounded in Rundstedt Offensive World and Its Wars His Beat Interviewed Kings and Emperors Held in Cell by Gestapo Did Not Report Own Wound Began Career in Des Moines With Marines in Nicaragua Watched Soviet Purges, The New York Times, 1945-07-04, p. 13. Retrieved on 2020-11-27.
- ↑ MRS. HAROLD DENNY RITES; Ashes to Be Buried in Kentucky Beside Graves of Parents, The New York Times, 1943-05-21, p. 19. Retrieved on 2020-11-27.
- ↑ Wallace R. Deuel. Hal Denny Reports on the "Hidden and Bitterer" Side of War, The New York Times, 1942-11-22, p. 3. Retrieved on 2020-11-27.
- ↑ TASK OF OCCUPATION DECLARED IN PERIL; Patterson at Dinner Honoring War Correspondents Says More Appropriations Are Needed, The New York Times, 1946-11-23, p. 28. Retrieved on 2020-11-26.