[1] He is credited with "fathering" the idea of combat correspondents in the United States Armed Forces during World War II.

After studies at the Officer Candidates School at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1906, he was assigned to the Provisional Marine Brigade, which late took part in Cuban Occupation.

After the battle, he served as a Marine Corps major attached to and in command of a U.S. Army battalion of the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the United States Army and Navy Cross by the U.S. Marine Corps for extraordinary heroism on October 3, 1918.

He was recalled to active duty for World War II and became the first Marine Corps director of public information.

[5] His son, Marine Captain James L. Denig, was killed in action while serving as a tank company commander on February 1, 1944, during the invasion of the Marshall Islands at the Battle of Kwajalein.