Hi rvcowgirl, nice handle, and welcome to SOC.
I'm still waiting for JohnB's response too. He must be out of town. So this is my take on your problem, with a lot less experience, but I'm way ahead of John when it comes to age
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The awning arms are aluminum which means while they are strong enough, they are also fragile. They may bend a bit, but unlike steel, are more likely to break and they will be very difficult to straighten. Since you may need new ones, you have nothing to lose and can pound away on the old ones to see if you can improve them. I would definitely remove them, I believe the awning will stay up anyway, but don't tow like that. Draw a string along the wide and narrow edges to see where and how much the bend is. Let us know the result. I really don't see how you could straighten them because aluminum will just bounce back as you pound on it. If you lever it against something, it won't give gently and may suddenly let go with a big break.
As to the aluminum siding--is it just dented or did the arms actually pierce the skin? If it's dented that's just cosmetic and we can make some suggestions, but if it's pierced... how big is the hole?... width of the awning arm or just a small slit?... how long is it or how many strips of siding does it cover?... is it just one arm or both?
Henry