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Personal info

Full name
WEST, Benjamin Howard "Bennie"
Date of birth
6 January 1924
Age
21
Place of birth
Coleman, Coleman County, Texas
Hometown
Coleman County, Texas

Military service

Service number
38370349
Rank
Private First Class
Function
Gunner
Unit
A Company,
630th Tank Destroyer Battalion
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
16 April 1945
Place of death
In the vicinity of Velbert, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
James O. West (father)
Ora V. (Pardue) West (mother)
James G. West (brother)
Lester V. West (sister)
Laura West (sister)
Ralph West (brother)
Garland O. West (brother)
John W. West (brother)

More information

Pfc Benjamin H. West attended Coleman High School.

He enlisted in Abilene, Texas on 27 January 1943. He received his training at Camp Howse and took special training at Fort Sill and arrived overseas in June 1944.

He was struck in the back and killed instantly when the destroyer was hit by an enemy artillery shell.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, Terry Hirsch, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com – Hughes Dyer West / 1930 Census / Texas Birth Index, www.tankdestroyer.net, www.newspapers.com - Abilene Reporter-News

Photo source: Peter Schouteten, Ralph West