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David Robert Benson

PFC David R Benson served with Fox Company, Second Battalion, 7th Marines.
He was killed in action at Guadalcanal on 26 October 1942.

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Branch

Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 290905

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

Current Status

Remains Not Recovered

Pursuit Category

The DPAA has not publicized this information.

Capsule History

Pre-War Life

Birth

April 27, 1921
at Ludington, MI

Parents

Johann Albert Benson
Matilda Elizabeth (Larson) Benson

Education

Ludington High School

Occupation & Employer

Student

Service Life

Entered Service

July 31, 1940
at Los Angeles, CA

Home Of Record

844 First Street
Ludington, MI

Next Of Kin

Father, Mr. Albert Benson

Military Specialty

Primary Unit

F/2/7th Marines

Campaigns Served

Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal

Individual Decorations

Purple Heart

Additional Service Details

Loss And Burial

Circumstances Of Loss

On 24 October 1942, the Second Battalion, 7th Marines moved into positions along a bare ridge overlooking a steep, wooded gully on one flank and a grass-covered draw on the other. Fox Company was charged with holding the left flank. “Every Marine knew this was the nearest thing to an indefensible position to be found,” recalled Mitchell Paige (H/2/7), whose machine guns were set up to support Fox Company. Constant artillery fire and patrol reports indicated that an attack was soon to come.

A battalion-sized Japanese force hit Fox Company at 2130 and 2300 on 25 October. These attacks were repulsed and the night settled into an uneasy quiet. Japanese signal lights appeared in the trees, and rustling movement indicated another force approaching. The attackers burst out of a treeline just yards away and hurled themselves at Fox Company. “It was a confusing maelstrom, dark shapes crawling everywhere, struggling men falling on each other with bayonets, swords, and all of it filled with violent oaths,” continued Paige. Fox Company held for a time, but the force of the third attack drove them off the ridge and back towards the command post. A counterattack by stragglers and support personnel, plus the machine gunners and Paige himself, finally restored the American line and sent the surviving Japanese troops fleeing into the jungle.

PFC David Benson was among the Fox Company Marines killed in the attack. His cause of death was reported as “gunshot wounds;” no further specifics are available.

Excerpt from the muster roll of F/2/7, October 1942.
Burial Information or Disposition

Fox Company had been hit hard. Magnan's good friend Andy Mahlena [sic] had been killed. So had other friends, including Boyd Cummings and Ralph Smith, the BAR man thought by some to have accidentally shot Lt. Hatch. Magnan helped dig temporary graves grimly, before the flies settled too thickly. Someone told him that McArdell, Benson, and Long had also been killed. That brought the October death toll for Fox Company to at least a dozen, on average a man for each squad. Each a son, maybe a brother, certainly a friend to others.

For some reason, Fox Company did not consolidate their fallen into a single area; five were sent back to the Division cemetery while McArdell, Benson, and Smith were interred in separate locations in the field about 100 yards apart. Benson’s grave was reported at the coordinates (73.40-199.20) on Guadalcanal Map #104.

Marines with shovels revisited this spot five days later – not to retrieve Benson, but to bury another Marine. Private Daniel R. Cashman (H/2/7) was killed in action on 28 October and buried at the same coordinates as Benson on 31 October. Interestingly, his remains (and those of Corporal McAdrell) were recovered and reburied in the island cemetery in May 1943.

Although one unknown (Guadalcanal X-98) was also reburied around this time, the physical traits did not match David Benson or Ralph Smith. Both Marines are still on the non-recovered list.

Next Of Kin Address

Address of parents, Albert & Matilda Benson.

Location Of Loss

Approximate location of Benson’s reported burial site.

Related Profiles

Marines unaccounted for after the battle of Henderson Field.
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