Paul Gardiner Benson

First Lieutenant Benson enlisted on April 6, 1942, in Chicago. He received his basic flight training in California at Oxnard, Taft, and Gardner Airfields in California. While at training in California, he married Pauline Mae Drake of Viola, Wisconsin. He advanced to advanced flight training at Stockton Airfield in California and graduated in June 1943. Shortly after their marriage, Benson was sent to Northern Ireland in February 1943 and then to England in April. After Benson left, his son, Paul Arthur Benson, was born. Lieutenant Benson, who never got to see his son, named his A-20 aircraft after him. By all accounts, Benson was an exceptional aviator. On D-Day, Benson's A-20 was hit by severe flak and every other crewman bailed out except for Benson. Lieutenant Benson saved the plane and landed it at base, continuing his missions with a new crew. Sadly, on June 29, 1944, Lieutenant Benson was killed over England. He was interred in Cambridge, England, until April of 1949 when he was reinterred at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.