Robert Benz, 24, Killed In Action
Lieut. Robert F. Benz, 24, previously reported missing in action over Germany on Nov. 4, was killed on that date, the War Department has notified his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred P. Benz, 2417 Kenway drive. He was co-pilot of a Liberator based in England.
Lieutenant Benz entered the army in September, 1941, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the army air forces last February at Stockton, Cal. He went overseas in July and was killed on his 20th mission. He had been awarded the air medal with two oak leaf clusters.
A graduate of Roosevelt High school, he attended Grinnell college two years and the State University of Iowa a year before entering the army air forces. He was a member of Westminister United Presbyterian Church and had been active in the summers before entering the service as a Junior leader in the Y.M.C.A camp programs.
Source: The Des Moines Tribune, Friday, January 5, 1945 (photo included)
Robert Francis Benz was born Apr. 7, 1920 to Frederic Phillips and Hazel A. Stroble Benz. He died Nov. 4, 1944 and is buried in Masonic Cemetery, Des Moines, IA.
Source: ancestry.com
