Sergeant Stanley Jay Benson, Army serial number 36456162, was born at Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan on November 17, 1923. He was probably an only child. His parents were Howard William Benson (28 Aug 1885 – 5 Apr 1942), who was born at Laingsburg, Shiawassee County, Michigan; and Cecil Vera (Dennis) Benson (3 Aug 1895 – 13 Nov 1986), who was born at Sarnia, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada and grew up in Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan.
His parents married at Pontiac, Michigan on December 28, 1917 and lived in Pontiac, where his mother owned a millinery shop and his father was state tax commissioner. In 1920 his parents lived at Lansing, Ingham, County, Michigan and his father was a salesman. After his birth the family moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada for several years. By April 1940 they lived on Church Street in Coopersville, Ottawa County, Michigan, and his father worked as a specialty salesman of guns and ammunition. His father died at Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan in 1942.
He graduated from Coopersville High School, Coopersville, Michigan in 1941. His photo in the school's 1941 Zenith yearbook is accompanied by this entry:
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Stanley Benson—"Honorable conduct and noble disposition make men great". Football 1, 2, 3; Basketball 1, 2, 3; Baseball 1, 2, 3; Orchestra 1; Band 1; President of Class 1; Commercial Club 4; Athletic Editor of Zenith 4; Scouting 1; Captain of Baseball 3.
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He registered for the draft at Lansing, Michigan on June 30, 1942. He was 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed 155 pounds, and had brown eyes and brown hair. At that time he resided at 526 West Washtenaw Street in Lansing, and was employed by the Nash Kelvinator Company in Lansing. He worked as a stenographer and typist and was single when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Kalamazoo, Michigan on March 12, 1943. His home of record was 91 East Howard Street, Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan, his mother's address in 1944.
He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery and armament training, and was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Norman E. Gross. By December 1943 the Gross crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field near Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the Gross crew was assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52629 'Sweatin' It Out' from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. Here is the roster of the Norman E. Gross crew on June 6, 1944:
B-24H 42-52629 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• Gross, Norman E – 1/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Haskell, Willard D – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Moke, Francis E – 2/Lt – Navigator – MIA
• Levine, Milton – F/O – Bombardier – Buried at Sea
• Huebel Jr, Benjamin A – S/Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Markowitz, Max I – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• McWilliams, Charles A – Sgt – Nose Gunner – MIA
• Benson, Stanley J – Sgt – Top Gunner – MIA
• Allensworth, Harold O – Sgt – Ball Gunner – MIA
• Westhoff Jr, Henry B – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – MIA
In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, the 487th Bomb Group dispatched two Squadrons on the first of three missions that the Group flew on D-Day. The Gross crew flew B-24H 42-52629 'Sweatin' It Out' on this mission, and Sgt Benson flew as top turret gunner. The 487th Bomb Group was assigned to bomb a choke point—a road junction—in Caen, France, to disrupt German transportation. The Group's assembly in the dark over England took five hours, much longer than planned. Then a complete undercast prevented the crews from bombing the target. On the return, the entire heavy bomber force was routed away from the Allied shipping area, to the west of the Channel Islands Jersey and Guernsey. Sgt Benson and his nine crewmates went missing in action when their aircraft ran out of fuel and went down in the English Channel. A station at Saffron Walden, England, received a distress call from the crew at 0842, which indicated that the aircraft was about 35 miles northwest of the Cherbourg Peninsula, and all four engines were dead. The aircraft's last reported position was 49°52'N, 02°38'W, some 20 to 25 miles northwest of the Channel Island Alderney. Other crews almost ran out of fuel before landing at bases near the English coast.
The remains of Flight Officer Levine, the bombardier, were found by the crew of the British ship HSL 192 (High Speed Launch 192) and were buried at sea, in the English Channel, on July 3, 1944. None of the other crew members was ever found.
Sgt Benson is memorialized along with his five enlisted crewmates on the Wall of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. The four officers on the crew are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery in England.
He has a cenotaph on his parents' grave marker at Laingsburg Cemetery in Laingsburg, Shiawassee County, Michigan. His birth year is inscribed 1922 on this cenotaph.
Sources:
1. 487th Bomb Group Association
2. 1855 New York State Census; Schenectady County; Town of Glenville. Capin, Daniel [sic]. 12 Jun 1855 (Daniel Capen, his father's grandfather—father of Mary E. (Capen) Benson)
3. 1860 US Census; New York; Schenectady County; Town of Glenville. Capen, Daniel (his father's grandfather—father of Mary E. (Capen) Benson)
4. 1875 New York State Census; Saratoga County; Saratoga Springs. Benson, William H. 17 Jun 1875 (his father's father)
5. 1880 US Census; Michigan; Shiawassee County; Sciota Township. Walters, Christian (his mother's grandfather—father of Cora L. (Walters) Dennis)
6. 1881 Canada Census; Ontario; Lambton County; Sarnia. Dennis, Samuel (his mother's grandfather—father of Hiram Alfred Dennis)
7. 1900 US Census; Michigan; Clinton County; Victor Township. Benson, William. 20 Jun 1900. (William H. Benson, his father's father)
8. 1900 US Census; Michigan; Shiawassee County; Sciota Township; Laingsburg Village. Dennis, Hiram. 9 Jun 1900 (Hiram A. Dennis, his mother's father)
9. 1910 US Census; Michigan; Shiawassee County; Sciota Township. Benson, William H. Apr 1910 (his father's father)
10. 1920 US Census; Michigan; Ingham County; Lansing. Benson, Howard W. 14 Jan 1920 (his father)
11. 1920 US Census; Michigan; Oakland County; Pontiac; Ward 3. Dennis, Hiram A. Jan 1920 (his mother's father)
12. 1930 US Census; Michigan; Oakland County; Pontiac. Dennis, Hiram. Apr 1930 (his mother's father)
13. 1940 US Census; Michigan; Ottawa County; Coopersville; Church Street. Benson, Howard. 9 Apr 1940 (his father)
14. American Battle Monuments Commission
15. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
16. Enlistment Record of Stanley J. Benson
17. HQ, U.S. Army Air Forces. Sunday Punch in Normandy: The Tactical Use of Heavy Bombardment in the Normandy Invasion (new imprint by the Center for Air Force History Wings at War Series, No. 2. Washington, D.C. 1992)
18. Michigan Births, 1867–1902
19. Michigan Death Certificates, 1921–1952: Howard W. Benson was born at Laingsburg, Michigan on 28 Aug 1885; died at Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan on 5 Apr 1942. (his father)
20. Michigan Marriages, 1868–1925:
• Howard W. Benson married Vera Cecil Dennis [sic] at Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan on 28 Dec 1917. (his parents)
• Harry C. Benson married Jennie M. (Beardslee) Nelson at Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan on 24 Oct 1917. (his father's brother)
21. Petoskey News-Review. Obituary of Cecil Vera (Dennis) Benson. Petoskey, Michigan, Fri, 14 Nov 1986, page 2 (his mother)
22. Stanley J. Benson (1923 – 1944) in Noggle Family Tree (ancestry.com)
23. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 5484
24. U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). Service Personnel Not Recovered Following World War II (see Our Missing – World War II)
25. U.S. Department of the Army, Adjutant General Office, Technical Records Section. Individual Deceased Personnel File of Milton Levine, T-123014 (aka '293 File')
26. U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939–1945
27. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900–1999 (ancestry.com): Zenith [yearbook]. Coopersville MI: Coopersville High School, 1941
28. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
29. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)
Research by:
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
Added bio 17 Dec 2012
Last edited 31 Oct 2024
Sergeant Stanley Jay Benson, Army serial number 36456162, was born at Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan on November 17, 1923. He was probably an only child. His parents were Howard William Benson (28 Aug 1885 – 5 Apr 1942), who was born at Laingsburg, Shiawassee County, Michigan; and Cecil Vera (Dennis) Benson (3 Aug 1895 – 13 Nov 1986), who was born at Sarnia, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada and grew up in Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan.
His parents married at Pontiac, Michigan on December 28, 1917 and lived in Pontiac, where his mother owned a millinery shop and his father was state tax commissioner. In 1920 his parents lived at Lansing, Ingham, County, Michigan and his father was a salesman. After his birth the family moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada for several years. By April 1940 they lived on Church Street in Coopersville, Ottawa County, Michigan, and his father worked as a specialty salesman of guns and ammunition. His father died at Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan in 1942.
He graduated from Coopersville High School, Coopersville, Michigan in 1941. His photo in the school's 1941 Zenith yearbook is accompanied by this entry:
------------
Stanley Benson—"Honorable conduct and noble disposition make men great". Football 1, 2, 3; Basketball 1, 2, 3; Baseball 1, 2, 3; Orchestra 1; Band 1; President of Class 1; Commercial Club 4; Athletic Editor of Zenith 4; Scouting 1; Captain of Baseball 3.
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He registered for the draft at Lansing, Michigan on June 30, 1942. He was 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed 155 pounds, and had brown eyes and brown hair. At that time he resided at 526 West Washtenaw Street in Lansing, and was employed by the Nash Kelvinator Company in Lansing. He worked as a stenographer and typist and was single when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Kalamazoo, Michigan on March 12, 1943. His home of record was 91 East Howard Street, Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan, his mother's address in 1944.
He completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery and armament training, and was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Norman E. Gross. By December 1943 the Gross crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field near Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the Gross crew was assigned to the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52629 'Sweatin' It Out' from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. Here is the roster of the Norman E. Gross crew on June 6, 1944:
B-24H 42-52629 – 838th Bomb Squadron
• Gross, Norman E – 1/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Haskell, Willard D – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Moke, Francis E – 2/Lt – Navigator – MIA
• Levine, Milton – F/O – Bombardier – Buried at Sea
• Huebel Jr, Benjamin A – S/Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Markowitz, Max I – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• McWilliams, Charles A – Sgt – Nose Gunner – MIA
• Benson, Stanley J – Sgt – Top Gunner – MIA
• Allensworth, Harold O – Sgt – Ball Gunner – MIA
• Westhoff Jr, Henry B – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – MIA
In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, the 487th Bomb Group dispatched two Squadrons on the first of three missions that the Group flew on D-Day. The Gross crew flew B-24H 42-52629 'Sweatin' It Out' on this mission, and Sgt Benson flew as top turret gunner. The 487th Bomb Group was assigned to bomb a choke point—a road junction—in Caen, France, to disrupt German transportation. The Group's assembly in the dark over England took five hours, much longer than planned. Then a complete undercast prevented the crews from bombing the target. On the return, the entire heavy bomber force was routed away from the Allied shipping area, to the west of the Channel Islands Jersey and Guernsey. Sgt Benson and his nine crewmates went missing in action when their aircraft ran out of fuel and went down in the English Channel. A station at Saffron Walden, England, received a distress call from the crew at 0842, which indicated that the aircraft was about 35 miles northwest of the Cherbourg Peninsula, and all four engines were dead. The aircraft's last reported position was 49°52'N, 02°38'W, some 20 to 25 miles northwest of the Channel Island Alderney. Other crews almost ran out of fuel before landing at bases near the English coast.
The remains of Flight Officer Levine, the bombardier, were found by the crew of the British ship HSL 192 (High Speed Launch 192) and were buried at sea, in the English Channel, on July 3, 1944. None of the other crew members was ever found.
Sgt Benson is memorialized along with his five enlisted crewmates on the Wall of the Missing at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. The four officers on the crew are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery in England.
He has a cenotaph on his parents' grave marker at Laingsburg Cemetery in Laingsburg, Shiawassee County, Michigan. His birth year is inscribed 1922 on this cenotaph.
Sources:
1. 487th Bomb Group Association
2. 1855 New York State Census; Schenectady County; Town of Glenville. Capin, Daniel [sic]. 12 Jun 1855 (Daniel Capen, his father's grandfather—father of Mary E. (Capen) Benson)
3. 1860 US Census; New York; Schenectady County; Town of Glenville. Capen, Daniel (his father's grandfather—father of Mary E. (Capen) Benson)
4. 1875 New York State Census; Saratoga County; Saratoga Springs. Benson, William H. 17 Jun 1875 (his father's father)
5. 1880 US Census; Michigan; Shiawassee County; Sciota Township. Walters, Christian (his mother's grandfather—father of Cora L. (Walters) Dennis)
6. 1881 Canada Census; Ontario; Lambton County; Sarnia. Dennis, Samuel (his mother's grandfather—father of Hiram Alfred Dennis)
7. 1900 US Census; Michigan; Clinton County; Victor Township. Benson, William. 20 Jun 1900. (William H. Benson, his father's father)
8. 1900 US Census; Michigan; Shiawassee County; Sciota Township; Laingsburg Village. Dennis, Hiram. 9 Jun 1900 (Hiram A. Dennis, his mother's father)
9. 1910 US Census; Michigan; Shiawassee County; Sciota Township. Benson, William H. Apr 1910 (his father's father)
10. 1920 US Census; Michigan; Ingham County; Lansing. Benson, Howard W. 14 Jan 1920 (his father)
11. 1920 US Census; Michigan; Oakland County; Pontiac; Ward 3. Dennis, Hiram A. Jan 1920 (his mother's father)
12. 1930 US Census; Michigan; Oakland County; Pontiac. Dennis, Hiram. Apr 1930 (his mother's father)
13. 1940 US Census; Michigan; Ottawa County; Coopersville; Church Street. Benson, Howard. 9 Apr 1940 (his father)
14. American Battle Monuments Commission
15. de Jong, Ivo. The History of the 487th Bomb Group (H). Paducah KY: Turner Publishing, Oct 2004
16. Enlistment Record of Stanley J. Benson
17. HQ, U.S. Army Air Forces. Sunday Punch in Normandy: The Tactical Use of Heavy Bombardment in the Normandy Invasion (new imprint by the Center for Air Force History Wings at War Series, No. 2. Washington, D.C. 1992)
18. Michigan Births, 1867–1902
19. Michigan Death Certificates, 1921–1952: Howard W. Benson was born at Laingsburg, Michigan on 28 Aug 1885; died at Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan on 5 Apr 1942. (his father)
20. Michigan Marriages, 1868–1925:
• Howard W. Benson married Vera Cecil Dennis [sic] at Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan on 28 Dec 1917. (his parents)
• Harry C. Benson married Jennie M. (Beardslee) Nelson at Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan on 24 Oct 1917. (his father's brother)
21. Petoskey News-Review. Obituary of Cecil Vera (Dennis) Benson. Petoskey, Michigan, Fri, 14 Nov 1986, page 2 (his mother)
22. Stanley J. Benson (1923 – 1944) in Noggle Family Tree (ancestry.com)
23. U.S. Army Air Forces Missing Air Crew Report 5484
24. U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). Service Personnel Not Recovered Following World War II (see Our Missing – World War II)
25. U.S. Department of the Army, Adjutant General Office, Technical Records Section. Individual Deceased Personnel File of Milton Levine, T-123014 (aka '293 File')
26. U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939–1945
27. U.S. School Yearbooks, 1900–1999 (ancestry.com): Zenith [yearbook]. Coopersville MI: Coopersville High School, 1941
28. U.S. War Department. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel. Washington, D.C., June 1946
29. U.S. World War II Draft Cards, Young Men, 1940–1947 (ancestry.com)
Research by:
Find A Grave member ID 47577572
Added bio 17 Dec 2012
Last edited 31 Oct 2024
Inscription
Wall of the Missing:
BENSON STANLEY J • SGT • 838 BOMB SQ • 487 BOMB GROUP(H) • MICH
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Entered the service from Michigan.
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