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Harold Wayne Dennis
Carrollton &
Farmers Branch
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Harold's Military
Service
January 9, 1953
Harold Wayne Dennis,
Jimmy Hill, Gene Davis & Kenneth Dafft were drafted to go into the Army on
January 9, 1953. We were all from the Carrollton-Farmers Branch area.
We had all graduated from
Carrollton High School & were all in our early 20’s. You might say we had grown
up together in this area. Kenneth didn’t go to Ft. Bragg.
We were sworn in the Army
recruiting office in the Santa Fe Bldg. in Dallas. We boarded a bus & went to
Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. We were issued our uniforms.
Jimmy, Gene & I left Ft.
Sam Houston & flew to Ft. Eustis, Va. When we got there it was very cold with
about 6” of snow on the ground. We were about to freeze. Basic training was
eight weeks. We had a lot of experiences.
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Picture of (starting left to right)
Harold Dennis, Gene Davis and
Jimmy Hill, 1953 |
Basic Training at Ft.
Eustis, VA. in January 1953, this was just one experience.
Jimmy Hill, Gene Davis & I were in Basic Training in Ft. Eustis, VA. Our
company went into the woods to bivouac. (bivwac). It was cold with snow on the
ground in the pine trees. We had to dig several fox holes up at the front part
of the camp. They were dug in a horse shoe shape, so you could sit a machine
gun on it. The holes were very deep. Jimmy was on guard duty that night. He
was close to that fox hole, walking his post & some way he accidentally fell in
the fox hole. We heard him hollering for the Corporal of the Guard & one went
up & checked on him. He had sprained his ankle so bad he couldn’t get out. He
had to be carried back to the main base to the hospital. We all told him he did
that on purpose to get out of bivouac. He swore he didn’t. When Jimmy finished
basic training he had lost so much weight that his clothes could just wrap
around him. They had to issue him all new clothes.
When we finished training, we all went in different directions. Jimmy & Gene
went to fixed wing school, to Ft. Campbell, Ky. They sent me to Ft. Sill, Ok.
to Helicopter Mechanics School. This school was 16 weeks long. I had a M.O.S.
3995 helicopter mechanic (job description). When I got out of school I had
orders to go to Austria. I was on leave & was to report to Camp Dix, N. J.
While I was home on leave I got a call from Ray Clark who worked for the
railroad as a telegraph operator, in Carrollton. He told me I had a telegram
from the Army. He read the telegram to me on the phone. It said for me to
disregard all previous orders & report to Ft. Bragg, N. C. on the same date that
I was supposed to go to Camp Dix N. J.
When I got to Ft. Bragg we were assigned to the 509th
Helicopter Transportation Co. This was the first Helicopter Co. that the Army
had.
During the time I was at Ft. Bragg we were proving the capability of helicopters
over fixed wing aircraft. We made Air Shows at Dayton, Ohio (Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base) 50th Anniversary of powered flight at Kitty Hawk, N.
C. & many smaller air shows.
We would assist the 82nd Airborne Troop at the drop zones at Ft.
Bragg. We would land at the end of the drop zone & if any of the soldiers got
hurt during the jump we would take them back to the base hospital.
One time we were there & one of the air planes lost one engine during the drop &
crashed killing several soldiers & crew.
While I was at Ft. Bragg we lost three helicopters. One in a storm north of
Fayetteville with three on board & two ran together . One taking off & one
landing, no one was killed in this crash.
In 1954 we had a hurricane come through. We parked trucks on each side of our
helicopters & tied them down to the trucks. After the storm we flew to the N.
C. & S. C.
Coast & helped rescue
stranded people.
I went to
school at San Marcus Air Force Base to learn the H-21 Helicopter. While at Ft.
Bragg I had a H-13 Bell, Hiller, a H-19 Piasacki & a H-21 Piasacki. These are
the helicopters that I crewed during my stay at Ft. Bragg.
I got out of
the Army on January 8, 1955.
Harold Wayne Dennis
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OBITUARY
 HAROLD
WAYNE DENNIS
September 14, 1930 - August 4, 2024Harold Wayne Dennis, 93
years old, of Carrollton, TX, passed away peacefully, on August 4, 2024,
surrounded by his family.
Harold was born in Farmers Branch, TX, on September 14, 1930, to Willie
Emerson Dennis and Mabel Etta Hamm. He had one older sister, Eunice
Dennis Tafelski. For most of Harold’s childhood, his family lived on a
farm where they grew vegetables and raised animals. He loved to
reminisce about those days and often said, “Living on a farm during the
early parts of the 1930s was hard, but it was a good life.” He grew up
attending schools in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch area and graduated
from Carrollton High School in 1947 at age 16.
Harold married the love of his life, Betty Lou Stanley, on October 1,
1949. They went on to have 4 daughters - Suzanne, Sherry, Linda, and
Kay.
Harold signed up for the Navy Reserves in the early 1950s and was
drafted to go into the Army on January 9, 1953. He attended basic
training at Fort Eustis, Virginia. He then went to Fort Sill in Oklahoma
to attend Helicopter Mechanics School. After completing this training,
he was transferred to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where he was
assigned to the 509th Helicopter Transportation Company, which was the
first helicopter company in the Army. During his time at Fort Bragg,
Harold was part of the crew for the following helicopters: H-13 Bell,
Hiller, H-19 Plasacki, and H-21 Plasacki. He was honorably discharged
from the Army on January 8, 1955.
Harold worked as a Dallas County Deputy Sheriff from January 26, 1955 to
October 31, 1986. He was one of the founding members of the Dallas
County Sheriff’s Association, and received numerous recognitions and
awards for his lifelong service and dedication to the department and
other local law enforcement agencies. Sergeant Harold Dennis worked at
the department’s shooting range for half of his career in the Sheriff’s
Office. He was promoted to supervisor of the range in 1975 and cherished
his work as Rangemaster all those years. No one could outshoot Sergeant
Dennis, so they truly were learning from the best. After retiring from
the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, he worked as a Dallas County
Chief Deputy Constable at Precinct 3 from 1987-1988.
Harold and Betty Lou were members of the Peters Colony Historical
Society. They shared so many of their memories from growing up in the
area to contribute to the historical documents of the Farmers Branch
area. Harold was the best at telling stories from previous times in his
life and always captivated the attention of anyone who would listen.
Harold was preceded in death by the love of his life, wife Betty Lou
Dennis, parents Emmer and Mabel Dennis, and sister Eunice Tafelski. He
is survived by his daughters and their significant others, Suzanne
Willard and Clayton Pursley, Sherry and Carl Shields, Linda and Dorn
Brinkman, and Kay and Tim Adamo, 10 grandchildren, 10 great
grandchildren with another on the way, 4 nieces, his sister-in-law
Donnie, and many cousins.
Harold was a light to everyone he met and was greatly loved by so many.
He will be dearly missed. The viewing is Wednesday, August 14, 2024 from
5-7pm at North Dallas Funeral Home: Farmers Branch in Dallas, TX. The
funeral is Thursday, August 15, 2024 at 10 AM at Northside Baptist
Church in Carrollton, TX with graveside to follow. In lieu of flowers,
donations can be made in Harold's name to Northside Baptist Church in
Carrollton, TX. |
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DENNIS
HAROLD WAYNE - SEPT. 14, 1930 - AUG 4, 2024
Married Oct 1, 1949
BETTY LOU (STANLEY) - APR 4, 1932 - FEB 27, 2012
Keenan Cemetery,
Farmers Branch, Dallas County, Texas
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