From the U.S. Department of Defense, Jan. 6, 2021, "World War II vet, POW who endured 'Hell Ship,' gets CIB, promotion, POW Medal" by C. Todd Lopez.
Army veteran Dan Crowley who fought in the Pacific Theater in the Philippines was honored with the Prisoner of War medal, the Army Combat Infantryman Badge and was also promoted to sergeant.
A Connecticut native, Crowley joined the Army Air Corps in October 1940 at the age of 18. he was assigned to an aircraft unit on Nichols Field near Manila in the Philippines, arriving there in March 1941. he had nine months of peace there until December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Nichols Field was attacked the next day. All hangars, most of the aircraft and infrastructure there were destroyed. His unit fought in the improvised air defense.
On December 24, Crowley and others sailed across 25 miles of Manila Bay to the Bataan Peninsula in the dark. The fighting continued on the peninsula. Crowley and the others from Nichols Field became a part of the U.S. Army's Provisional Air Corps Infantry Regiment and were joined in the fight against the Japanese by the Philippine Scouts.
They fended off three Japanese amphibious attacks. After three and a half months, on April 9, 1942, American leaders decided to surrender
--GreGen
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