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Joseph
Benson
Benson
PFC · · 11B10 · Infantryman
KIA
In-Country Service
1969-07-11 –
Home of Record
Coram, Flathead County, MT
Character of Service
Honorable
Archive Status
Active
Service timeline not yet compiled. If you served with or knew Joseph Benson, please use the contribute form to share what you remember.
1949-02-16
Born
Born in Havre, Montana — February 16, 1949
Joseph Henning Benson was born in Havre, Montana, and attended elementary school there before his family moved to Coram in 1959. He graduated from Columbia Falls High School in 1967 and worked at the Anaconda Aluminum plant and in road construction before entering the Army.
1969-02-11
Inducted
Entered the U.S. Army — February 11, 1969
Benson was drafted through Selective Service and entered the U.S. Army on February 11, 1969.
1969-07-11
Arrived
Arrived in Vietnam — July 11, 1969
PFC Joseph Benson began his tour with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry (Airmobile), 1st Cavalry Division, Republic of Vietnam.
1969-10-08
Non-Hostile — Drowned
Lost in a river crossing — October 8, 1969
On October 8, 1969, PFC Joseph Benson drowned in the Song Be River when the boat carrying his squad capsized during a river-crossing operation in Phuoc Binh Province. Benson, CPL Albert Altizer, and PFC Jerome Taylor — all members of Third Squad, wearing full combat gear — had boarded the first of two boats, with twelve other men, for a platoon-sized patrol. About fifty feet from shore the craft began taking on water as it accelerated; the lieutenant in charge ordered the men to drop their packs, but the boat capsized. The men clung to the overturned hull while the second boat ferried survivors to the Song Be Bridge. A head count found Benson, Altizer, and Taylor missing. A shoreline search that afternoon recovered the bodies of Benson and Taylor; Altizer was never found. Benson was brought home and buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Columbia Falls, Montana. He was 20 years old and had been in Vietnam about three months. See /events/river-crossing-song-be-1969-10-08/.
1969-10-08
Casualty record
Song Be River, Binh Duong Province, III Corps, RVN — vicinity grid coordinate XT 921 449
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