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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • Service History Note: The veteran competed in track for the Air Force and served in ground to air communications.
  • War or Conflict: Cold War
  • Branch of Service: Air Force
  • Unit of Service: Air Defense Command
  • Location of Service: Biloxi, Mississippi; Newburgh, New York; San Antonio, Texas

View full service history

"I ran my fastest mile in Mississippi, 4:36, and I was planning to do better than that, so when I got to Stewart [Air Force Base] there was no track, so I started training for long distance races." (video interview, 00:19:57.0)

Like many young men who join the military, Dennis Pennenga went through a difficult period of adjustment during boot camp. Dealing with the physical training regimen was hard enough for someone unused to it, but then he also had to learn how to live in a barracks with other men--and how to deal with a bully as well. Pennenga built himself up to the point that he was doing 25 chin-ups and 90 push-ups at a time, and soon he was running track for the Air Force, placing 2nd in the 300 meter steeple chase in 1961. As a direct consequence of his Air Force experience, Pennenga continued running after his service, switching to distance running and eventually running his best marathon time, 2 hours 52 minutes, at age 40 in the 1982 Newsday marathon.

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About this Item

Title

  • Dennis Pennenga Collection

Names

  • Ward, James
  • Middle Country Public Library
  • Pennenga, Dennis

State of Birth

  • NY

Home State

  • NY

Headings

  • -  Pennenga, Dennis
  • -  Cold War -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Air Force.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Cold War

    • Service History Note: The veteran competed in track for the Air Force and served in ground to air communications.
    • Branch of Service: Air Force
    • Unit of Service: Air Defense Command
    • Location of Service: Biloxi, Mississippi; Newburgh, New York; San Antonio, Texas
    • Dates of Service: 1960-1964
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 09/20/2018)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 09/20/2018)
  • Photograph: Copy photographic print [15 items] -- Photograph (collected 1943 - 1982)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/114951

Cite as

  • Dennis Pennenga Collection (AFC/2001/001/114951), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Service Unit

Gender

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Ward, James, Middle Country Public Library, and Dennis Pennenga. Dennis Pennenga Collection. 1960. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.114951/.

APA citation style:

Ward, J., Middle Country Public Library & Pennenga, D. (1960) Dennis Pennenga Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.114951/.

MLA citation style:

Ward, James, Middle Country Public Library, and Dennis Pennenga. Dennis Pennenga Collection. 1960. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.114951/>.