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Lt. Benjamin McKnight earned the Silver Star while serving in the 32nd Infantry Division in New Guinea. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81067060 http://www.32nd-division.org/history/ww2/32ww2-3.html |
On this Flag Day we honor Benjamin Green McKnight. He never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Ben was born on June 14, 1920 in Sumter, South Carolina. His parents Thomas and Julia were also born in South Carolina. His father worked as a clerk in a store and as general secretary at a YMCA. Ben had one older brother and one younger sister. At some point the family moved to Kannapolis, North Carolina, where Ben graduated from Cannon High School.
Ben attended Clemson Agricultural College of the South (now Clemson University), where he participated in ROTC and YMCA Council and was co-captain of the swim team. He graduated in 1941 with a bachelor's degree in General Science and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army.
He served in the 128th Infantry Regiment of the 32nd Infantry Division, known as the Red Arrow Division. The 32nd ID traces its lineage back to the Union “Iron Brigade”, one of the most feared and respected units on either side in the Civil War. In early 1942, the 32nd ID was ordered to prepare for an early departure overseas to Europe and the division moved to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, for transport to Northern Ireland. However, Japan’s rapid advance into the South Pacific threatened to cut Australia off from its American supply lines. As a result, the 32nd was notified on 25 March 1942 to travel across the country to San Francisco to board ships for the Pacific instead. The division departed the States in late April and arrived in southern Australia at Port Adelaide on 14 May 1942, having traveled 9,000 miles in 23 days.
Once the 32nd ID arrived in Australia, the division was forced to build its new camps from scratch before they could begin combat training. Their initial training in the States was focused on eventual combat in Europe, and in Australia was changed to be oriented around a defense of the Australian mainland. General Douglas MacArthur had decided as soon as he had reached Australia that the key to its defense lay not on the mainland but in New Guinea. The U.S. Army typically required divisions to train as a unit for a full year before entering combat. However, on 13 September 1942 General McArthur ordered the 32nd ID to Papua New Guinea even though they had less than two months of training and minimal training in jungle warfare.
In November 1942, the 32nd ID took part in the Battle of Buna-Gona. The battle was fought by Australian and US forces against the Japanese beachheads at Buna, Sanananda and Gona in Papua New Guinea. The Japanese forces were skillful, well prepared, and had developed a strong network of well-concealed defences. During the opening stages of the offensive, the Allies faced a severe shortage of food and ammunition, complicated by the unfamiliar jungle terrain. In the fierce combat that folllowed, 1Lt. McKnight was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action on 16 December 1942 near Buna. He was later wounded in action at some point and died of his wounds on 26 December 1942.
Ben’s older brother John McKnight also served in the US Army, was wounded in Germany in April 1945 and died a month later.
Benjamin Green McKnight and his brother John Cuttino McKnight are buried in Elmwood Memorial Gardens in Columbia, South Carolina.
Thank you Lt. McKnight for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Ben.
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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-25 pilot Victor Brooksby. You can read about Victor here.
This is one of the final 100 stories (81) to be written as part of this project which ends on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. At that time more than 1,370 men and women will have been profiled. The project will live on in an expanded program to write the stories of all 400,000+ US World War II fallen. Visit www.storiesbehindthestars.org to learn more. We welcome your continued support and interest and encourage you to help write some of these stories.
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!
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