Long Overdue: SGT Dan Crowley.

Sgt. Dan Crowley, a World War II veteran and prisoner of war (POW), received long-overdue recognition for his extraordinary service and sacrifice

Enlisting in the Army at 18, Crowley found himself stationed at Nichols Field in the Philippines even before the U.S. entered WWII. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese targeted the Philippines, including Nichols Field, where Crowley was assigned to an aircraft unit.

Despite lacking combat training, Crowley and his comrades improvised, using antiquated British machine guns for a makeshift air defense attempt during the devastating air raid. Survivors, including Crowley, crossed Manila Bay to the Bataan Peninsula in the dark to join other U.S. troops in continuing the fight against advancing Japanese forces. As the enemy closed in, Crowley and fellow soldiers swam through shark-infested waters to evade capture, but ultimately, they became prisoners of war.

Volunteering for a work detail to build a Japanese airfield on Palawan Island, Crowley, along with fellow POWs, endured harsh conditions. Shipped off to Japan as a slave laborer in a copper mine in March 1944, he faced unimaginable challenges until liberation on September 4, 1945.

For approximately three and a half years, Crowley endured harsh conditions and forced labor under Japanese captivity. Upon Japan's surrender in 1944, he was honorably discharged in April 1946, unaware that he had been promoted to sergeant in October 1945. Returning home to Connecticut, Crowley's combat experiences included serving with the Army’s Provisional Air Corps Infantry Regiment on Bataan and later with the 4th Marines Regimental Reserve in the Philippines. In January 2021, at the age of 99, Crowley was officially promoted to sergeant and presented with the Prisoner of War Medal and an Army Combat Infantryman Badge in a ceremony at Bradley Air National Guard Base in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

Tragically, just a few months after this well-deserved recognition, Crowley passed away at his home in Simsbury, Connecticut.