In Memory of Navy S 1C
Dick Henry Dennis
Mellette, South Dakota
Spink County
February 21, 1918 -- November 13, 1942
Killed in Action aboard the USS Juneau
Dick Henry Dennis was born on February 21, 1918, to Ross and Rena Dennis in Frankfort, South Dakota. Dick, also known as “Dicky,” had one brother, Lester Dennis. At the age of nine, Dick and his family moved to Mellette, SD, where the Dennis boys attended grade school and high school. Dick, in his junior year, joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked construction for a time in Hill City, SD.
Dick entered the Navy at Omaha, Nebraska, on October 4, 1939, and was immediately transferred to the Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois. Following his training, Dennis served for two years as a Seaman First Class on the USS Philadelphia on convoy duty in the Atlantic.
Seaman Dick Dennis was transferred to the U.S.S Juneau, stationed in the southwest Pacific. In a letter written home Dennis stated, “We have the greatest Navy in the world, and I am proud to be part of it.” According to his brother, Lester, Dick loved the Navy and serving his country. The Juneau was engaged in sixteen major and minor battles in just a matter of a few months, considered to be a record of sorts.
On November 13, 1942, while engaging at the battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, USS Juneau was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese during “the most confused and horrifying naval action of the entire war.” Over 700 servicemen, including Dick, were lost. It is often noted that the five Sullivan brothers were also on the Juneau, inspiring the story Saving Private Ryan and the book Left to Die, among others.
On July 19, 1943, the following letter was issued to the Dennis family from the Secretary of the Navy. It read, in part:
Eight months have now elapsed since the loss of the U.S.S. JUNEAU, during the battle of Guadalcanal, on 13 November 1942. This lapse of time, in view of the circumstances surrounding the disaster as officially reported by close witnesses, forces me reluctantly to the conclusion that thepersonnel missing, as a result of the loss of the JUNEAU, were in fact killed by enemy action. Among them was your son, Dicky Henry Dennis, Seaman first class, United States Navy.
Dick Dennis was posthumously awarded the American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the Purple Heart.
A memorial service was held in Mellette and a marker was erected for First Class Seaman Dick Henry Dennis at the National Cemetery near Sturgis, SD. The American Legion Post 151 of Mellette was renamed Harris/Dennis American Legion Post 151 and a wall featuring photos, news clippings, and copies of letters will forever help to preserve the memory of Dick Dennis’ sacrifice.
This entry was respectfully submitted by Chelsea Barron, 8th Grade West, Spearfish Middle School, Spearfish, South Dakota, November 13, 2000. Information for this entry was provided by Lester Dennis, Mellette, South Dakota, brother of Navy First Class Seaman Dick Dennis.
