WW2 Normandy Fallen - Arnold Bennett, 9th Infantry Division

PFC Arnold Bennett served with the 9th Infantry Division in Normandy.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29083029/arnold-l_-bennett
http://www.easy39th.com/history.php 

Arnold L. Bennett never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

If you have enjoyed reading the stories of the WW2 fallen, Can you help write some stories? It's a big project. The more help, the better.  Announcing "The Stories Behind the Stars", see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org. This crowd-sourced national project has the goal of compiling stories of all 400,000+ of the US World War 2 fallen in one free-to-access central database. We are going to need a lot of volunteers. Anyone visiting a war memorial or gravesite will be able to scan the name of the fallen with a smartphone and his story will appear on the phone.

 

Arnold was born on June 18, 1920 in Simpson, Louisiana. His parents Lonnie and Flosie were also both born in Louisiana. His father worked as a farmer. Arnold had three older sisters and three older brothers. By 1940 Arnold had completed three years of high school and was still living at home.

He was drafted into the army in October 1941. He reached the rank of private first class in Company C, 1st Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division. PFC Bennett saw action in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy from 1942 through 1943.

The 9th ID landed on Utah Beach on D-Day + 4. It was given the task of taking part in the Battle for Cherbourg. The Germans there were defeated on June 27. Pvt. Bennett was killed three days later on June 30, 1944.

His grave is at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Simpson, Louisiana.

Thank you PFC Bennett for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Arnold.

This is one of the final 100 stories (77) 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.

Last year on this date I profiled B-17 top turret gunner Robert Carter. You can read about Robert 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.

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WW2 Fallen 100 is supported by

The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation

“Where Every Day is Memorial Day”

http://www.tggf.org