Orders, Decorations & Medals - Other Countries

Lot 2202    SESSION 11 (9.30AM THURSDAY 31ST MARCH)    Orders, Decorations & Medals - Other Countries

Estimate $5,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $3,800

USA, GROUP OF FOURTEEN: Distinguished Service Medal (1960s issue); Legion of Merit, Legionnaire; Bronze Star with V device and Oak Leaf Cluster; American Defense Service Medal with one Bronze Star (pin-back brooch missing pin); American Campaign Medal (early issue); Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one Battle Star (early issue); European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two Battle Stars (early issue); World War II Victory Medal (early issue); Army of Occupation Medal (later issue); National Defense Service Medal (later issue); Korean Service Medal (early issue); South Korea Order of Military Merit 2nd Class (Ulchi, 1951 Series breast badge, impressed 711); Thailand Order of the White Elephant 3rd Class (Commander's neck badge, early manufacture with enamel on both sides); United Nations Korea Medal (English, early issue). Unnamed as issued and unmounted. Extremely fine.

Together with the following items.
1. General Staff Badge in enamel and hallmarked by N.S.Meyer, Inc.
2. Combat Infantry Badge, marked Sterling Silver.
3. Parachutist Badge, marked Sterling 12C.
4. Major General insignia, marked Sterling.
5. Original Legion of Merit, Legionnaire award certificate, General Orders, and Citation.
6. Original Commission as Brigadier General.
7. Original Commission as Colonel.
8. Original Commission as Lieutenant Colonel.
9. Original Certificate of Appreciation from the Offices of the Commander in Chief and Chief of Staff, Far East and United Nations Commands (with 44 original signatures, including General Maxwell D.Taylor).
10. Original Armed Forces Staff College Certificate.
11. Original National War College Diploma.
12. Black lacquered inlaid mother-of-pearl shield with engraved plaque, 'Presented To/Brig. Gen. Henry K. Benson, Jr./G-4, Eighth United States Army/23 March 1963/By/(signature)/Kim Sung Eun/Minister Of National Defense/Korea', in a fitted case.
13. Black lacquered inlaid mother-of-pearl desk plaque including United States and South Korean flags in mother-of-pearl with engraved brass plaque, 'March 31, 1963/To: Henry K. Benson, Jr/From: Park Kyung Won/Lt. Gen/Minister'.
14. Black lacquered wall plaque with KMAG (Korean Military Advisory Group) distinctive insignia and engraved brass plaque, 'Brig Gen Benson Jr./Chief Of Staff'.
15. Three silver goblets with Army distinctive insignia, engraved to Benson (2, one for 8th Army, the other for 7th Infantry Division Logistic Command) and his wife as 'Den Mother' (1, for 7th Infantry Division Logistic Command).
16. Case for South Korea Order of Military Merit, 2nd Class (Ulchi, Breast Badge).
17. West Point Biography.
18. 45 original photos (most 8x10 b&w).

(total weight of all items including documentation, all stored in two boxes, approximately 6.5kg)

Bronze Star Citation: General Orders #13, HQ 89th Infantry Division, April 9, 1945. 'For gallantry in action as Battalion Commander, 354th Infantry, 89th Infantry Division, in military operations against an enemy of the United States. On 26th March, 1945, Lieutenant-Colonel Benson, in the vicinity of Weyer, Germany, led his battalion in a difficult and successful crossing of the Rhine River, in the face of severe enemy resistance, and a swift and treacherous current. At a critical time, when initial attempts to cross were repulsed with heavy losses, Lieutenant-Colonel Benson displayed such determination, resourcefulness, and coolness under fire, that the eventual crossing was assured.'

Henry Kreitzer Benson, Jr (Hank), was born in Seattle, Washington, USA on Christmas Day, 25 December 1912. His father was Dr Henry K.Benson, the dean of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington and Benson Hall there is named in his honour. After trying a few different jobs, Hank went to George Washington University for a year and then received a congressional appointment to West Point where he graduated in 1936 and was assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment at Fort Warren, Wyoming. While there he married Barbara Jacobson, also from Seattle, on 2 April 1938.

In 1939 he attended the regular course at the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia and was assigned to 15th Infantry, 3rd Division at Camp Ord, California. Then in 1940 he was transferred for duty with the Military Police Company at Fort Shafter, Hawaii and was in Honolulu when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour. He was appointed Assistant Provost Marshall until 1942 when he returned to the mainland as G-3 of the Infantry Replacement Training Centre at Camp Roberts, California. He attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and was then assigned to the 89th Division as a battalion commander in the 354th Infantry. In 1945 he went with the division to Europe and took part in the campaigns in Rhineland and central Germany as battalion commander. He led his battalion in the Rhine River crossing under heavy fire and was awarded the Bronze Star, one of only 135 to the Division. The 89th Division also liberated Ohrdruf, a sub-camp of Buchenwald Concentration Camp. He served with the 83rd and 42nd Divisions and was then appointed provost marshal in Salzburg, Austria.

Hank returned to America for a three year term as assistant professor of military science and tactics at Michigan State University in East Lansing. He then took on various other roles including as G-1 of the 11th Airborne at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, attendance at the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, and after graduation served with the Department of Army General Staff as plans officer and the office of the Army Chief of Staff, until late in the Korean War when he was assigned to Headquarters, Far East Command in Tokyo, Japan where he served as aide to the commander-in-chief and secretary of the Joint Staff. After his return to America he had various appointments until 1961 when he was transferred to South Korea as Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Advisory Group, and then commanding general of the 7th Logistical Command at Taegu (now spelt Daegu), the third largest city in South Korea, before returning to America in 1963. His only Vietnam connected service was as commander of a Special Logistics Planning Group established by the Army to deal with plans related to Southeast Asia in 1964.

Hank retired from active duty in August 1967 to settle in Lakewood, Washington where he was close to the military community at Fort Lewis and where he also worked as a consultant for several years to the Boeing Company. 'Hank' Henry Kreitzer Benson, Jr, died on 7 January 1978 at Tacoma, Washington and was buried in the Benson Family plot in Acacia Memorial Cemetery, Seattle, Washington. His wife died many years later on 28 December 1991 and was buried at the same place.