[Kat]
Pvt Benson was just 18 years old when he died on Iwo Jima, D-Day+7, February 26, 1945. He rests here in Kansas City, Kansas, in a plain grave with a simple marker, below an ever waiving flag of the United States. In the scheme of things, that may best represent Adm Nimitz's words, "Uncommon valor, a common virtue."
I decided that it would be a good opportunity to piece together Pvt Benson's story, the story of Kansas City at war and tell a little bit about the 26th Marines, 5th Division, Iwo Jima.
Part I: Paul Benson in Kansas City on the Eve of War
Part II: Paul Benson Grows Up in War Time Kansas City
Paul Benson Gets Inducted
When Paul was in school at Argentine High, there were no set years until graduation. Each student was promoted a grade or "level" based on their work. Like Paul's female counterpart, Paul probably completed all of his levels and graduated at the age of 17 in 1943. Like many young men his age, Paul was probably anxious to get into the war. He didn't want to be part of the war effort at home in a defense related industry. He might have seen that as doing less than he could since many of the workers were older men or 4F (unfit for military duty) while others were defense essential. Paul's mom might have even worked at a defense related job; one of the many women who helped keep the production lines rolling.
Paul was probably adventurous, too. He probably begged his mom to sign a waiver so he could join earlier. She would have been torn between keeping her boy home one more year, hoping the war would soon be over, and doing what many mother's had done: waiving her boy off at the train station and trying to keep her fears to herself.
Paul was inducted into the USMC, April 5, 1944 in Wichita, KS, Sedgewick Co. just two months and 22 days shy of his eighteenth birthday.
[continued in flash traffic]
Paul probably went to a local recruiting station and signed up after he turned seventeen in 1943 and then received a letter like this one ordering him to report to Wichita for induction. The train ticket would be waiting for him, but not much else. Paul was probably excited and apprehensive to be leaving Kansas City, probably for the first time.
Paul would have gotten a ride to the Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri and caught a train for Wichita. Either the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe or Missouri Pacific. On the train, he would meet many young men like him on the way to induction or points southeast or west for training. Others would be returning from furlough or heading to their new station on the West Coast.
The military did not offer any food vouchers or provide food on these train rides unless they were doing a mass movement of troops in preparation for training or operations. So, Paul, if he was lucky, would have brought along his own food, like a sandwich wrapped in wax paper and some fruit, or saved a little money from his job. Fortunately for soldiers, all along the train route, big and small towns alike donated money to and manned "canteens" to provide everything from food, drink cigarettes, post cards, paper, pencils, stamps, mending, and even some pretty girls to talk to.
Like this canteen in the little town of Neodesha, Kansas, on the way to Wichita.
The Mo-Pac trains came in only at noon and in the evening 3 or 4 times a week and Mrs. S. E. Simpson was the lady in charge of meeting each one at noon. Glenn Utt furnished a large roll top desk at the Frisco station in which the ladies kept supplies. One woman stayed in the morning and another in the afternoon in case a troop train came in before other workers could get there. This was a necessity because the troop movements were secret and railroad officials could not let the canteen know when a train would arrive. Sometimes for days at a time there would be no trains; then there might be several in one day.How were they able to meet the trains at all? Through the services of two of the most important people to the canteen - Mrs. Benefield who lived in the last house on south 4th Street and Mrs. Joe McAninch, west of town. When a train passed one of these homes, the lady living there would immediately call Mrs. Johnson, and later Mrs. Starrett, who activated the workers.
Ladies in the community got together, wrote letters, put out fruit jars and asked people they knew to donate to the canteen. Money, playing cards, magazines, books and many more items would be kept in bulk at the station to hand out. The depot and the railroad provided room for storage and serving. Besides providing food and a little entertainment, the ladies (for they were mostly ladies) were also someone the soldiers could talk to and the soldiers were very appreciative. They would often write back post cards thanking the ladies for their kindness:
"I thank you! My Platoon thanks you! The Marine Corp thanks you! And thanks to Jimmy Cagney — Yankee Doodle Dandy. P. S. Tell the girls to write". And this Irishman must have kissed the blarney stone: "Sully" Sullivan addressed his card to "Some Blue Eyed Golden Blond, c/o City Canteen", and invited "There is my address on the front, Honey, how about dropping a line to me. We stopped at your town the other night, a very nice town. I'd like to visit it sometime". I wonder who I that memorable blue-eyed blonde was.Another wrote, "I come from York City where they offer you most everything, but I must say your offer made us a happy, comfortable bunch." And another wrote Mrs. Starrett, "Your wonderful smile helped a lot to put the boys at ease".
When Paul go to Wichita, he would have had to pass a physical, had his eyes checked and his teeth examined. He would have been in line with 25 to 50 other young men. He might have had his photo taken with others to commemorate the event. Paul would have carried his medical file from section to section. As he passed each section, they would have stamped his papers "passed".
Later, he would have stood again, waiting in rows with the other men. In some cases, the men would be selected for a branch of the service simply by where they stood in line: Army, Navy, Army Air Corp, Marines. Army, Navy, Army Air Corp, Marines. Paul may have specifically enlisted in the marines.
After his branch of service was assigned, Paul was sworn in as a United States Marine.
After his induction, he would have caught a troop train out of Wichita to Los Angeles and then another to San Diego and Camp Pendleton for Marine boot camp. It might have taken between 5 and 7 days for Paul to get to San Diego. When he arrived, he would have taken a small gauge rail to Pendleton and one of the many smaller "camps" within its confines.
For Paul, the real adventure was about to begin.
