World War II Honoree

Owen Bennett

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Holdenville, Oklahoma

Honored By

William E. Shaklee

Relationship

Friend and Neighbor at Epworth Villa Retirement Facility

HE ENTERED OKLAHOMA A. & M. COLLEGE IN STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA, WHERE ALL MALE STUDENTS WERE REQUIRED TO ENROLL IN THE RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS. HE JOINED THE ENLISTED RESERVE CORPS AND WAS CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY. THUS BEGAN HIS 48 MONTH SERVICE WITH THE 42ND INFANTRY 'RAINBOW DIVISION' OF THE US ARMY. HE DID HIS BASIC TRAINING AT CAMP GRUBER, NEAR MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA. THE INVASION AT NORMANDY, FRANCE, TOOK PLACE IN JUNE, 1944. HIS DIVISION LEFT FOR EUROPE ON THANKSGIVING DAY. THAT WAS ABOUT THE TIME THAT WINTER HAD SET IN AT BASTOGNE AND THEY RELIEVED SOME OF THE 101ST DIVISION IN THAT EFFORT. THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES WERE SUCH THAT THEY HAD ARRIVED IN FRANCE AS A TASK FORCE OF INFANTRY, AND THEIR ARTILLERY AND OTHER SUPPORT TROOPS WERE STILL BEHIND THEM. NEAR CHRISTMAS TIME THEY TOOK UP POSITIONS IN THE OLD FRENCH FORTIFICATIONS CALLED THE MAGINOT LINE. THEY IMMEDIATELY WERE ENGAGED IN WHAT BECAME KNOWN AS 'THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE'. THEIR DIVISION WAS PURSUING THE GERMAN ARMY DURING THOSE LAST DAYS. THEY WERE IN MUNICH AND IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMP OF DACHAU DURING THE FINAL DAYS OF THE WAR. THEIR DIVISION WAS THEN PLACED ON OCCUPATION DUTY IN AUSTRIA WHERE HE SERVED UNTIL MAY 7, 1945.