Marines
Company K,
3rd Battalion,
1st Marine Division
Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Cpl. Benson died Sept. 9, 2006 from wounds suffered on June 17 of the same year while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. (
Source)
One of his superiors visiting Cpl. Benson while he was at the hospital asked him, "John, are you still a Marine?" "Sir! Yes, sir! I will always be a Marine!" he responded. "I will live as a Marine, and I will die as a Marine!" (
Source)
Cpl. Benson joined the Marines in 2003, just after high school and just as the war in Iraq was getting underway. A close friend of his, Peter Johnson, says he was concerned about Benson's safety and asked him why he joined the military. "He said, 'I'm not doing it for me, I'm doing it for you and Cory. I'm doing it for my parents, my nieces and nephews, all of our friends. I'm doing it because maybe someday, if I'm in the Marines, some other kid won't have to.' And that's just who he was, he was a very selfless person," (
Source)
