Daniel Crowley was born in May 1922 in Greenwich, Connecticut. He had five brothers. He remembers that during the Great Depression they got along okay. They never starved. His father was a manufacturer of women's clothing in New York City [Annotator's Note: New York, New York] until the Great Depression. He grew up in an affluent neighborhood, but no one had any money or jobs. Crowley stopped going to school at a young age because his parents did not force him to go. He also paid no attention to his father being against the United States' participation in World War 2. Crowley recalled his father recording speeches about his feelings of getting into war with Germany. With the car that Crowley purchased when he was 16, he and his friends would go to New York City to eat and drink. One night, three of them agreed to sign up for the Army as an adventure. On 7 October 1940 they tried two recruiting stations until they were accepted by the one in Hartford [Annotator's Note: Hartford, Connecticut]. After enlisting, Crowley was shipped off to the Philippines.

Daniel Crowley and a couple of his friends were sent on the USS Leonard Wood (APA-12) to the Philippines. He recalled the voyage to be comfortable. They stopped offshore in San Francisco [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California] and stayed on Angel Island [Annotator's Note: San Francisco, California]. They stayed there for a few weeks then continued on their voyage and landed in Hawaii. They stayed at Hickam Air Base [Hickam Field, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] in tents while their ship was being repaired. They finally traveled from Hawaii to Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines] in March of 1941. Crowley was assigned to the Air Corps and stationed at Nichols Field [Annotator's Note: on Luzon, Philippines]. Crowley recalled the experience like being in prison because they lived in tents, had nothing to do, and he was given no training. He would lie around under the wings of the airplanes because the Army did not have a surplus of gas to use for training. It was not until mid-July 1941 that Crowley began to receive some technical training from older soldiers, but was given no formal training. In the fall of 1941, his unit [Annotator's Note: 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group] was sent to Iba, Zambles [Annotator's Note: Iba, Zambles, Philippines] to work on maneuver training. Crowley recalled that it was the first time he went up an American war plane. The pilots would only get 15 to 20 minutes a month of flying because the gas was rationed so much.

Daniel Crowley was in the process of getting registered to go to flight school in the United States, but everything changed when the Japanese attacked the Philippines. On 7 December 1941, Crowley was at Nichols Field [Annotator's Note: Luzon, Philippines] when his unit [Annotator's Note: 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group] was told that the Japanese were attacking Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. He was assigned to man an antiquated British machine gun, and on 8 December 1941, Crowley left his post to get some coffee when the Japanese began to attack the Philippines and blew away his post. Crowley recalled everything around him was destroyed. The planes were flying so low, he could see the Japanese pilots as they flew by. After the multiple day attack by Japanese forces on the Philippines, Crowley remembered finally being able to take a shower at the YMCA [Annotator's Note: Young Men's Christian Association] in Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines]. He was still given no real direction on what to do after the attack. He remained at Nichols Airfield to man the machine guns until given new orders.

Daniel Crowley survived the initial attack of the Japanese on 8 December 1941. On 24 December 1941, his unit [Annotator's Note: 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group] left Nichols Field [Annotator's Note: Luzon, Philippines] and went to Manila, boarded a ship and headed for Bataan [Annotator's Note: Bataan Peninsula, Philippines]. They hiked up into the jungle and set up camp. He remembered the food rations were moldy and wormy because the military had not stored up enough supplies. The Japanese enemy attacked by the sea using landing barges and infiltrated through the jungle. Crowley remembered that the Filipino scouts were a great help in resisting the Japanese; they were very efficient and well trained. However, on 9 April 1942 the United States surrendered Bataan. Crowley remembered they had already lost a lot of weight by then because the Army kept halving their rations while fighting in the jungle. He was told to report to Mariveles [Annotator's Note: Mariveles, Philippines], and to dismantle his weapons and throw them in the jungle. He did not follow orders.

Daniel Crowley became a prisoner on 9 April 1942 when the American forces surrendered after losing the Battle of Bataan. Crowley was told to report to Mariveles [Annotator's Note: Mariveles, Philippines] and turn in his weapon. He ignored those orders and instead went to the bay and hid with other troops. There was a ship that blew up in the harbor overnight and Crowley remembers fragments of the ship raining down on top of him. He was able to swim across the bay with the help of the ship's crew and made it to the island of Corregidor [Annotator's Note: Corregidor, Philippines]. He was absorbed into the 4th Marines 4th Marine Regiment] under Captain Shifty Shofner [Annotator's Note: later US Marine Corps Brigadier General Austin C. Shofner]. The fortress island received constant shelling and bombing from the Japanese. The Americans eventually surrendered to the Japanese when they threatened to fire a tank cannon in a tunnel where the hospital was located. Crowley recalled waiting two to three weeks with about 10,000 others in a large field. The field was soon covered with human waste. It was the worst condition he had faced so far. The Japanese finally moved their new prisoners from Corregidor to Manila. There, they were lined up, marched to a railroad yard and packed into box cars. Many people died during the trip due to the extreme conditions. Crowley was just hoping he could survive to the end. The train finally stopped and they were let out of the box cars and began marching again until they reached the Cabanatuan [Annotator's Notes: Cabanatuan prisoner of war camp, Philippines] prison camp.

Daniel Crowley, now a prisoner of war, reached the Cabanatuan [Annotator's Notes: Cabanatuan, Philippines] prison camp. The camp was surrounded by barbed wire with sentry towers. Food was virtually nonexistent, men were constantly ill with fever, flies were everywhere, and human waste was everywhere. It was a nasty place. After two prisoners tried to escape, the Japanese made a rule that ten prisoners would be shot for every person who tried to escape. Crowley would trade things for a handful of sugar from the garage guards on the other side of the barbed wire. While at this camp, he worked on a farm for a few weeks, growing sweet potatoes for the Japanese. Working on the farm, they were beaten for the slightest infraction. Crowley was beaten several times while working there. He volunteered to be moved to the island of Palawan [Annotator's Note: Palawan Island, Philippines]. At Palawan, Crowley and other prisoners were forced to build an airfield by hand out of the jungle. There was no mechanical equipment, basic building tools only. Crowley remembered that he had only a loincloth for clothing, and he would sneak bananas and papayas they had found to eat. He was burnt almost black by exposure to the sun and sported a beard to his waist. They did supply barrels of water for prisoners to hydrate and they slept on the floor of these old wooden barracks that were used for the Philippine military.

Daniel Crowley was a prisoner of war at a Japanese slave labor camp on the island of Palawan [Annotator's Note: Palawan Island, Philippines]. He was forced to build an airfield for the Japanese. A Japanese guard would wake them [Annotator's Note: Daniel Crowley and his fellow prisoners of war in the prison camp on Palawan Island] up in the early morning by pounding their feet with a club, then they were taken on a truck to the building site. They began building by clearing an area of the jungle, then leveling 3,000 yards. They dug coral with picks and loaded it into V shape mining cars. Next, they would push the cars to the airfield area and dump the coral out so concrete could be poured on top of it later. The concrete had to be pounded flat with a makeshift pounding device. At the end of the day, the prisoners would line up and load up on the trucks. Every so often, they would smuggle fruit and hopefully not get caught. The prisoners would then distribute the fruit later. Crowley recalled that they worked, or they were beaten. One time, Crowley was beaten so bad by a Japanese guard, he was knocked out. He would have been killed, but another guard interceded and said Crowley was needed for his labor. A doctor was assigned to the prisoners who had the authority to place them in sick bay. Dr. Mango [Annotator's Note: Dr. Carl Mango] convinced the Japanese that Crowley was unfit for work and had him sent back to Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines]. He had a short stay in Manila and then was sent on a Hell ship [Annotator's Note: an unmarked Japanese cargo ship used to transport prisoners in inhumane conditions] to Japan.

The Japanese would push the prisoners down into the bottom of the ships and force them to sleep on wooden platforms. Daniel Crowley recalled being on the ship for about two weeks and never left his platform. When they arrived in Japan, he was taken to Hitatchi [Annotator's Note: Hitachi, Japan] to work in the copper mine, and then transferred to Ashio [Annotator's Note: Ashio, Japan] to work in another copper mine. He assisted a Japanese civilian pack dynamite by sticking them in holes before lighting a fuse. Crowley thought his Japanese overseer was decent. He would share some of his food with Crowley and gave him advice on how to survive. He did this for a year and a half.

In 1944, Daniel Crowley was a prisoner of war and worked as a slave laborer in a copper mine in Ashio, Japan. He was required to wear a cotton uniform that he described as "cotton pajamas." To get to the mine, they had to walk through snow up to their waist during the winter. They lived in barracks where they only had each other to keep warm. Crowley was a slave laborer at this copper mine until the end of the war. He recalled getting a message that the emperor was speaking so there would be no labor. They listened to the emperor on the radio and he said the war was over. Crowley remembered soon after THE war was declared over, B-29s [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] came over dropping food. The guards seemed to disappear from the camp. The interpreter told them not to leave the camp because they may be killed by the Japanese officers. Finally, a train was reserved for them and took them to Yokohama [Annotator's Note: Yokohama, Japan] where Red Cross representatives were there to take care of them. They were immediately flown from Atsugi Airport [Annotator's Note: Atsugi, Japan] to Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Philippines]. On the way there, his four-engine plane lost two engines.

Daniel Crowley received new clothing and had received lots of food while in Ashio [Annotator's Note: Ashio, Japan]. When he arrived in Yokohama [Annotator's Note: Yokohama, Japan], he and his fellow prisoners were interrogated by the Red Cross and by that time, they all had put on weight. The American doctors did not believe many of the prisoners that they were starving while in the slave labor camps in Japan. After Crowley was sent to Manila, he waited a while, but a ship finally took him to California. He took the train back to Greenwich [Annotator's Notes: Greenwich, Connecticut]. He arrived late at night. He said a quick hello to his mother and then went to the pub to have a beer. One of his friends that signed up for the Army with him died as a prisoner of war in Japan, while the other one contracted tuberculosis, but survived the war.

Daniel Crowley was a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War 2. In 1942, when General Wainwright [Annotator's Note: US Army General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, IV] surrendered the Philippines, Crowley had no idea what would happen next. He felt that Major General Ed King [Annotator's Note: US Army Major General Edward P. King, Jr.] saved his life because he devised a plan and used the resources that were available to hold out as long as they did. Crowley can recall after the war that he adjusted back to civilian life without much trouble. He was going to use the G.I. Bill but did not enjoy going to school so he decided to not see his education through. Crowley was offered a sales job by a friend of his brother which gave him a start in civilian life. He has reoccurring nightmares of being a prisoner of war. Crowley stated that while he was a prisoner, he hated all the Japanese. He feels that the American government helped the Japanese, the enemy, but the Philippines, who fought with the Americans did not get enough recognition, if any. Crowley believes that dropping the atomic bombs on Japan was an effective way to end the war instead of letting it drag on for another ten years. Crowley does not forgive the Japanese perpetrators for their actions in the war. He also feels that the United States has no idea how much the Filipinos fought and suffered for the Americans.

Daniel Crowley admits that he used his experience to help him make sales while he was a merchandise salesman. He eventually found a passion in insurance counseling as a career. Crowley thinks being forced to live in such horrid conditions was the worst part he can remember about being a prisoner of war. His most memorable experience is seeing the Golden Gate Bridge as he returned to America. He believes World War 2 made him a better person and being a POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] has strengthened his character. He believes it would have been good for the country if everyone would get to experience World War 2. People would have higher values if they lived through that kind of experience. Sadly, he thinks World War 2 does not mean much to most Americans today except for the Hollywood nostalgia. Crowley believes that institutions like The National WWII Museum are important and should continue to teach to future generations.