Dennis Allen Andrews was born Mount Solon, Virginia. His father worked at Goodrich Rubber Company to support his family during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. In 1928, when Andrews was about six years old, he and his family moved to Akron, Ohio. He joined the Navy when he was 18 years old with the consent of his parents. [Annotator's Note: Video break at 0:01:12.000]. After watching a movie about Navy flyers, he wanted to join the Navy. He was inducted in Akron, Ohio and then was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station [Annotator's Note: Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County, Illinois] for basic training. In Spring 1941, he went to New London [Annotator's Note: New London, England] for submarine training. He was in class for about three or four days when news came out that the USS O-9 (SS-70) sunk from unknown reasons. Two of his classmates quit submarine school the next day. He attended two other advanced schools that last about six weeks each before being went to San Diego [Annotator's Note: San Diego, California]. He was given a weekend leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] and hitchhiked to Los Angeles [Annotator's Note: Los Angeles, California]. He woke up on a Sunday and after meeting with a friend who was getting coffee, he learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. He reported back to base on Monday and learned that he was supposed to set sail for Pearl Harbor on 8 December 1941, however, they cancelled the orders. He did not leave until Christmas 1941 [Annotator's Note: 25 December 1941]. When he arrived at Pearl Harbor, oil was everywhere. He stayed at Pearl Harbor until April 1942 when he was assigned to the USS Plunger (SS-179).

In April 1942, Dennis Allen Andrews was assigned as the Electrician's Mate 3rd Class to the USS Plunger (SS-179). On his first patrol, the submarine headed to Midway [Annotator's Note: Midway Islands, Possession of the United States] to gas up and then proceeded to Shanghai [Annotator's Note: Shanghai, China. While the Plunger was at Midway, he saw a Japanese plane crash onto the island. He hiked up to the crash site to see how bad the wreck was. Midway became a rest area for submarines. They turned the hotel into a rest camp for enlisted men and eventually built cottages too. During the submarine's third patrol, it dove deep and hit coral reefs. The reefs caused major damage to the bottom of the vessel and destroyed the sound gear. The Plunger docked at Brisbane, Australia for repairs. After two weeks of repair, the plunger was about to head out again, but a sailor was accidentally killed. When an autopsy was done, they found out the deceased had TB [Annotator's Note: tuberculosis, bacterial disease of the lungs]. All the men on the submarine had to get tested. He had another friend that was shot and died of internal bleeding. The Plunger went out on another war patrol, but Andrews does not remember where they went. He knows that they docked at Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii] when the patrol ended. After the Plunger's sixth patrol, Andrews left the submarine in June 1943 and headed back to the United States. He briefly met Admiral Nimitz [Annotator's Note: US Navy Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Sr., Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet] one night at a recreation center because Nimitz enjoyed bowling. When he returned to the United States, he reported to Mare Island [Annotator's Note: Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California] and was reassigned to the USS Pilotfish (SS-386). The vessel was not fully completed. Andrews was supposed to head with the Pilotfish to Panama Canal but broke his jaw and ended up in the hospital for six weeks. He was then assigned to the USS Plaice (SS-390) as the Electrician's Mate 2nd Class. The Plaice headed to Pearl Harbor to fuel up and then went out on its first patrol. They sunk several Japanese ships. Only one of the five patrols he was on the Plaice that the crew was unsuccessful in sinking an enemy ship. Andrews and the submarine stopped in Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands]. There was a truck accident and many of his crewmen were injured, including the chief electrician. During patrols, the submarine had motor issues, and Andrews had to continuously work on it. When the Plaice finished its run, Andrews was promoted to chief. He was sent back to the United States in July 1945 for leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time].

The war soon came to an end, and the Navy did not know what to do with Dennis Allen Andrews except send him to school. He was then assigned to the USS Amberjack (SS-522) as chief electrician, but because he refused to take more classes, he was transferred to the USS Proteus (AS-19), and then to the USS Greenling (SS-213) at a drydock in Portsmouth [Annotator's Note: Portsmouth, Virginia] until December 1945. He was then transferred to the USS Apollo (AS-25) but requested to be transferred to the USS Trumpetfish (SS-425) as the ship underwent a GUPPY [Annotator's Note: Greater Underwater Propulsive Power Plant Program] conversion. The Trumpetfish set out to Key West [Annotator's Note: Key West, Florida]. In January 1949, Andrews was sent back to Portsmouth. He then transferred to the USS Tusk (SS-426) until 1955 when he transferred to the USS Grouper (SS/SSK/AGSS-214) in New London [Annotator's Note: New London, Connecticut]. He decided to take a recruiting assignment in New Mexico for 30 months and transferred to the USS Sea Fox (SS-402), and then to the USS Sea Devil (SSN-664) until 1961. He was selected by the Navy to go to OCS [Annotator's Note: officer candidate school] school, and then helped put two ships back into commission. He was then transferred to USS Proteus again as the electrician officer for three years [Annotator's Note: Beeping noise in background at 0:57:57.000 to 0:59:33.000 and then goes black until 1:00:11.000]. He went to Cuba for training but returned because the evaporators did not work. The Proteus also went to Ireland, Spain, and Guam.

In 1964, Dennis Allen Andrews was assigned to the USS Proteus (AS-19) for the third time as the officer electrician. Andrews was offered another position to build a recreation center when the crews come in for leave. After for one and half years, he completed the recreation center. He returned to the Proteus and was promoted to chief engineer. He then went to Japan for shore duty for three years. Then he was assigned for 18 months on the USS Lexington [Annotator's Note: USS Lexington (CVS-16)] in Pensacola [Annotator's Note: Pensacola, Florida]. He retired 31 January 1971 after 30 years of service. He moved to California until 1989 and then moved to New Mexico.

While Dennis Allen Andrews served on the USS Plunger (SS-179) and USS Plaice (SS-390) during World War 2, he experienced enemy depth charges [Annotator's Note: also called a depth bomb; an anti-submarine explosive munition resembling a metal barrel or drum]. There were some close calls, but the submarines were never hit. They went on a couple of searches [Annotator's Note: for downed pilots], but never found any pilots while he was on the submarine. After the war, Andrews attended several reunions. While on board the Plunger, there was a time while they were near Russia that they were part of surface combat. On a typical day on the submarine, Andrew was required to do a four-hour watch and then eight hours off. On his time off, he often took a nap before he went on watch. The submarines monitored the salt in the saltwater.

World War 2 made Dennis Allen Andrews grow up. He enjoyed his Navy career and never regretted serving. He received great benefits for serving. Americans pitched in to help the war effort in World War 2. Since Vietnam [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975], America lost their pride and all they care about is making money. During World War 2, American had many allies and fought for freedom. It might be too late to have a national World War 2 Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana] and that should have been done right after the end of the war. Most days were boring, but every now and then things on the submarine would be active [Annotator's Note: he served most of his time on the USS Plunger (SS-179)]. [Annotator's Note: Video blacks out at 1:39:15.000.]