Duane Dewey was born on November 16, 1931, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on March 7, 1951, and completed basic training at MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina, in May 1951. PFC Dewey next attended Infantry training at Camp Pendleton, California, from May to August 1951, and he then deployed to Korea, arriving in October 1951. Cpl Dewey was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division from October 1951 until he was badly wounded during a combat mission on April 16, 1952, for which he would later be awarded the Medal of Honor. He was evacuated back to Japan in May 1952, and then to Great Lakes, Illinois, from June 1952 until he was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps on August 19, 1952. Duane Dewey was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Oval Office on March 12, 1953. He died on October 11, 2021, and was buried at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida.

His Medal of Honor Citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a gunner in a machine-gun platoon of Company E, in action against enemy aggressor forces. When an enemy grenade landed close to his position while he and his assistant gunner were receiving medical attention for their wounds during a fierce night attack by numerically superior hostile forces, Cpl. Dewey, although suffering intense pain, immediately pulled the corpsman to the ground and, shouting a warning to the other marines around him, bravely smothered the deadly missile with his body, personally absorbing the full force of the explosion to save his comrades from possible injury or death. His indomitable courage, outstanding initiative, and valiant efforts in behalf of others in the face of almost certain death reflect the highest credit upon Cpl. Dewey and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.