THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The remembrance from Albert Maybend is very touching. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us...

I met Johnny at Basic Training at Ft. Ord, California on 21 June 1966 and he seemed to stand out from all others who I met then and during my military career. Johnny believed his hometown of Jerome was the center of the universe, we didn't know that Jerome was a town of 3000 at the time. I promised Johnny I would visit Jerome and I did on 6 August 2018 when I drove from California to Jerome to meet with a number of his high school friends at the Jerome Country Club. We all talked about Johnny and what a popular person he had been during their early years in Jerome. I told them about how Johnny and I dreamed of becoming Army Officers, and we did. I told them how I found out that Johnny had been killed in action as I was landing in Vietnam in early December 1968, he was killed on 25 November 1968. Rest in Peace, Johnny, you will never be forgotten.

DEAR LIEUTENANT BENTON,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS A ROTARY WING AVIATION UNIT COMMANDER - PILOT. IT IS 2017, WHICH MAKES IT FAR TOO LONG FOR YOU TO HAVE BEEN GONE. WE APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE, AND YOUR SACRIFICE. WATCH OVER THE U.S.A., IT STILL NEEDS YOUR COURAGE.. GOD BLESS YOU. MAY THE SAINTS AND ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE.

1LT Johnny W. Benton served with 11th Armored Cavalry “Blackhorse” Regiment’s Air Cavalry Troop. On November 25, 1968, he was killed when a random sniper shot him during an aerial recon mission just north of Bien Hoa. 1LT Benton, from Idaho, had only been in the troop for a couple of weeks. [Taken from the book American Warrior by J.C. Bahnsen Jr.]

Dear Johnny,
You were and always will be one of my dearest friends. I miss you everyday. You made me laugh so many times when we were kids. You were your parents' pride and joy. They were so very proud of you. I want you to know that you are in my thoughts and heart everyday.