THE STORY OF DENISE SANDERS (HAZEN)
Wreaths Across America sponsor match continues
Denise Sanders (Hazen) was born on Dec. 4, 1964 in Duarte, California to Barbara (Hynes) and Anthony Sanders. She has an older brother and an older sister.
Sanders attended grade school at Our Lady Assumption, a private Catholic school, until the fifth grade. Her family then moved to Northern California where she attended Twin Hills Elementary School in Sebastopol before graduating from Analy High School. She also took classes at various junior colleges.
Sanders enlisted in the United States Navy in 1983 on a Delayed Entry Program, waiting to go to boot camp. She had always thought it would be a “cool” thing to do and felt this would give her life some direction. Her first stop was boot camp in Orlando, Florida then it was on to Meridian, Mississippi for Personnelman (PM) Training.
Her first duty station was at the Naval Air Station in Guam. Sanders admits she had never heard of Guam until then. She calls it a very small dot on the map. When her assignment there ended, Sanders was transferred to Ferndale, California. More training followed the two duty assignments by attending Patrol Narcotics Detector Dog School at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. While still rated as PN2 (E5), Petty Officer Sanders was transferred to work with police dogs.
Petty Officer Sanders worked with five different dogs during her time in the service. Some of the dogs were strictly used for patrolling the base for intruders or disturbances while others earned special certification for drug detection which sometimes required search and attack action.
The first dog she trained with was an “amazing” orange and black German Shepherd named Horrace. This dog was used for base patrol. When she moved up to Narcotics Detector School she trained and partnered with a small black Lab named Judas.
Once she had completed her training, Sanders was sent to the Naval Air Station Subic Bay in the Philippines where she stayed for two years working with her dog, a Belgian Malinois by the name of Nero, searching aircraft carriers and submarines. She really loved this dog and tried to find a way to bring him back to the States with her. Nero was a double duty dog, patrolling the base for intruders as well as doing drug detection for marijuana, cocaine, heroin and hash on submarines and aircraft carriers or within the supplies that were being loaded on board. The dogs used for these operations had to have special certification specific to drug detection.
When Petty Officer Sanders was transferred to the Naval Air Station in Alameda, California for her last duty station, she had yet another dog. His name was JD, another German Shepard but he was only patrol trained. When she moved
into the drug detection unit at Alameda, she found it necessary to change dogs again. This time it was another Belgian Malinois she called Rex the Wonder Dog for his skills in drug detection. Petty Officer Sanders stated, “My dogs and I searched anything we were told to search which included buildings, warehouses, cars, trucks, buses, ships of all kinds, submarines, personnel coming back on board after shore leave, supplies and dock workers. Every day was the same type of work, but every day was different.”
Petty Officer Sanders left the Navy after nine years as an E5. She notes that all of the bases where she had served are now closed. Sanders has said “I made a lot of friends along the way. I earned all of my Good Conduct Awards, did antiterrorism training with the Navy S. E. A. L. S. and met President Bill Clinton. I’ve helped hold a football field size American flag during the 49’ers playoff game for the Superbowl and have traveled to faraway lands.”
Petty Officer Sanders, now Hazen, has two grown children and a spoiled dog. The places she has lived since leaving the Navy were all close to home in Northern California, including Ukiah and Sebastopol, with time spent in Guam and the Philippines, and a grand stay of 10 days in Arkansas. Now, her number one passion is travel. Ms. Hazen has been to 32 countries including the DMZ and has even set foot inside North Korea. She prefers international travel and says there are a lot more countries she wants to see. Ms. Hazen also enjoys reading but ‘ the old-fashioned’ way, with a real book in hand. Attending live stage plays, preferably musicals, is another enjoyable activity for her. Since moving to Portland, Oregon a year ago she has taken an interest in the beer and coffee boutiques and the local food.
This year, the National Wreaths Across America Day ceremony for our location was canceled. We made necessary modifications to the laying of veteran wreaths to ensure the safety of all who participate.
All sponsored veteran wreaths in 2020 were placed throughout the day on Thursday, Dec, 17, and Friday, Dec. 18, by volunteers who signed up to participate. This year’s Wreaths Across America theme is ‘Be an American Worth Fighting For.’
Starting on National Wreaths Across A merica Day, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020 and running through Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, all wreaths sponsored through a registered Wreaths Across America Sponsorship Group will be matched by Headquarters for placement next December.
To sponsor w reaths through our local sponsorship group, please visit our official Wreaths Across America webpage at www. wreathsacrossamerica.org/ pages/17815 or contact our Location Coordinator at RRCD@PACIFIC.NET or (707) 462-8012. We can also be found on Facebook and Instagram at ukiahwaa.