 |
| Medal of Honor hero PFC George Benjamin, Jr. served with the 77th Infantry Division at Leyte. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8176184/george-benjamin/photo |
George was born April 24, 1919 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I was unable to find any information on his parents. In the 1920 census, he was living with his uncle and grandmother in Palmyra, New Jersey, possibly indicating that one or both of his parents had passed away shortly after his birth. George graduated from Woodbury High School in Gloucester County, New Jersey, and married Mary Ethel Simmins in 1939. In 1940, George and his wife resided in Woodbury, NJ where he worked as a clerk. They had two sons, Steven and Christopher.
He was inducted into the US Army in August 1943 and served as a PFC in Company A, 306th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division (nicknamed “The Statue of Liberty” division). The 77th ID deployed to Hawaii in March 1944 and trained in amphibious landings and jungle warfare, and first saw combat in the amphibious assault on Guam in July 1944. After the liberation of Guam, the 77th next landed on the east coast of Leyte on 23 November 1944 in the invasion of the Philippines. PFC Benjamin was mortally wounded in action on 21 December 1944, and died the next day. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions that day, his citation reads:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Private George Benjamin, Jr. (ASN: 32956012), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty on 21 December 1944, while serving with Company A, 306th Infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division, in action at Leyte, Philippine Islands.
Private Benjamin was a radio operator, advancing in the rear of his company as it engaged a well-defended Japanese strong point holding up the progress of the entire battalion. When a rifle platoon supporting a light tank hesitated in its advance, he voluntarily and with utter disregard for personal safety left his comparatively secure position and ran across bullet-whipped terrain to the tank, waving and shouting to the men of the platoon to follow. Carrying his bulky radio and armed only with a pistol, he fearlessly penetrated intense machinegun and rifle fire to the enemy position, where he killed one of the enemy in a foxhole and moved on to annihilate the crew of a light machinegun.
Heedless of the terrific fire now concentrated on him, he continued to spearhead the assault, killing two more of the enemy and exhorting the other men to advance, until he fell mortally wounded. After being evacuated to an aid station, his first thought was still of the American advance. Overcoming great pain he called for the battalion operations officer to report the location of enemy weapons and valuable tactical information he had secured in his heroic charge. The unwavering courage, the unswerving devotion to the task at hand, the aggressive leadership of Private First Class Benjamin were a source of great and lasting inspiration to his comrades and were to a great extent responsible for the success of the battalion's mission.
George Benjamin Jr. is buried in Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, in Manila, Philippines. I was unable to find any information on his widow and children.
Thank you PFC Benjamin for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for George.
_____
This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled B-24 gunner Raymond Munstermann. You can read about Raymond here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
No comments:
Post a Comment