Benson, W. Kenneth 1920-1945

BENSON, KRUMM, CALLISON, TAYLOR, WHITE, THOMPSON

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 11/13/2008 at 12:43:33

SOLDIER'S BODY COMES HOME FOR BURIAL

Military Rites For Sgt. W. Kenneth Benson Of Kellogg Friday P.M.

The body of Sergeant W. Kenneth Benson of Kellogg, rescued from an unmarked grave in Germany, will be buried with military honors in the memorial cemetery in Newton following services in the Methodist church in Kellogg Friday afternoon at 2 o'clcok, in charge of the pastor, Rev. W.W. Watson. Military rites at the grave will be in charge of Ben Morgan post of the American Legion. The soloist will be Dick Hunt and flowers will be in charge of Mrs. Simon Haunsperger and Mrs. Chester Mason. Pall bearers will be Simon Haunsperger, Chester Mason, Claire Miller, Max Veber, Jerry Deal and Ray Willemsen.

Sergeant Benson was born Nov. 9, 1920, in Mariposa township in Jasper county, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Willard Benson. He attended the rural schools, completing the work of the eighth grade and was employed at the One Minute washer factory in Kellogg prior to his enlistment on March 11, 1944. On May 29, 1943, he was married in Bethany, Mo., to Miss Iona Krumm, who survives him with one daughter, Peggy Lee.

He received an air medal for meritious service April 23, 1945, and was awarded the Purple Heart, which Mrs. Benson received posthumously.

Sergeant Benson, an Air Force crewman, had been reported missing in action April 20, 1945, and no further word had been received until last fall Mrs. Benson was notified that one of the bodies in an isolated civilian plot in a cemetery in Belgium had been identified as her husband. His body was re-interred in the U.S. Military cemetery at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium.

Surviving relatives besides his widow and daughter Peggy Lee, 4 1/2 years of age, are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Willard Benson of Kellogg, four sisters, Mrs. Myrtle Callison and Mrs. Dwight Taylor of Kellogg, and Mrs. Clifford White and Mrs. George Thompson of Newton, four brothers, Glenn, Ronald, Merle and Louis, all of Kellogg, and several nieces and nephews.

NOTE: Services were held at Kellogg Methodist Church, Friday, June 3, 1949 with interment in Newton Memorial Gardens.