YOU’RE GRANDFATHER WENT TO WAR The World War Two Experience of Henry William Deni

by Teresa Carr Deni

paperback / $19.95 / isbn: 978-1-58790-447-9 / 181 pages / 6" x 9" / illustrated

Biography / World War Two / Italian Americans

ABOUT THE BOOK

The family background, early life and later experiences of a first generation Italian seaman from Philadelphia who joined the United States Navy during the Second World War. The sailor, Henry William Deni, served on a sub-chaser in the Caribbean and, at the end of the war, took part in the occupation of Japan.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Teresa Carr Deni, Henry’s eldest daughter, is a retired Municipal Judge in Philadelphia.

FROM THE INTRODUCTION . . .

Writing about my Father does not come easy. The pain of his death when I was 16 left me numb. He and Mom were the strongest influences in my life, and I think about them every day. What they wanted for me was monumentally simple, that I lead a good life, one based on Christian values that respected my family and our ethnic heritages, and made use of the gifts God gave me.

You, the Grandchildren of Henry William Deni and Margaret Elizabeth Carr, were fortunate to experience the love and life of “Gram.” However, little is known to you of your Grandfather, and I hope this effort changes that.

When Gram passed, I found in her closet letters my Dad had written her before any of us were imagined. They met during World War II, introduced by my Mom’s co-worker at the Philadelphia Arsenal, Aunt Anna Gleason nee Deni, who was Dad’s younger sister.

To say that they hit it off would be a gross understatement. We all are here because they fell in love and kept their commitments to each other and to us.

Clearly, their whole story deserves to remain a mystery. What I can show you, however, is what I have learned about his family before they left Italy and how they fared in the early years in the United States. Then, you can take a look at how he wrote to her, confined by the restrictions implicit in censorship, about what he was experiencing in the Navy, along with photographs he left behind from his travels. I hope you find the inspiration to add the story of your family to this one, and that we can pass what we learn to our children.