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| Aubrey Lee Benson
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| NO. 17971 • 13 December 1927 - 1 August 1950 |
| Died August 1, 1950, at Colorado City, Texas aged 22 years
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AUBREY LEE BENSON was
born December 13, 1927 in Colorado City,Texas. He was the elder son of Mr. and
Mrs. Aubrey C. Benson.
His life followed the
usual pattern of a small‑town boy, except that he was unusually serious
of purpose and deeply interested in learning. He was one of the honor students
when graduated from grammar school, and also when graduated from Colorado City
High School in May 1945. Immediately following graduation, he enrolled in the
University of Texas and remained there until June 1946.
During his school years
he gave much time and attention to Scouting and earned numerous merit badges.
He was enthusiastic about all phases of school activities, and was popular with
students and teachers because of his dependability, efficiency, and good
fellowship. He loved athletic sports so much that he gave them the time they
required; then put out of his mind all else and became completely absorbed in
his studies as he had been in football, basketball, or tennis. One of his most
admirable characteristics was his ability to do whatever task was his in the
best possible manner, never being satisfied with anything half done, whether it
be study, a game, or wrapping a Christmas package.
Through Congressman
George Mahon of the Nineteenth District, Texas, Aubrey Lee was granted the
privilege of taking the entrance examinations for West Point and entered the
Academy in July 1946. He received the appointment with great humility and wrote
his parents saying, "The credit is yours for my having this chance to
realize an earnest desire and ambition to attend West Point. I am grateful for
the training I have had through the
years. The thought of the responsibility that is mine almost frightens me. I
shall give the best that is in me to be worthy of this honor".
Aubrey Lee was serious
and conscientious, and adjusted himself to the discipline maintained at the
Academy because he knew that every part of it would be helpful in the years
ahead. He knew that being a good soldier meant more than drilling, and marching
and fighting. It meant living in a man's world as men should live.
Upon graduation on June
6, 1950, Lee was assigned to the 11th Airborne Division at Ft. Campbell. Ky.,
and was to have reported August 5, 1950 to Ft. Benning, Ga., for parachute jump
training, after a sixty day leave with his family in Texas.
During his vacation at
home, much of Lee's time was spent with the young men who had been his friends
since his first grade in school. They laughed and talked of the fun they had
had through the years and speculated on the future. Often their conversation was
about the world situation, Army life, and life in general.
It was July 26, 1950
when the fatal automobile accident occurred that took Aubrey Lee from us. His
mother and father were with him at the time. They and Don, his brother, were
constantly at his bedside in the hospital until his death on the morning of
August 1st. The very best medical and nursing care were given him. Captain
Pheil, neuro‑surgeon of the General Hospital at Fort Sam Houston, Texas,
came by plane and operated within a few hours after the accident, but the
injury was so serious that it could not be overcome.
Lee's funeral was in
Colorado City, Texas, in the First Baptist Church of which he had been a member
since he was fifteen. Rev. R.Y. Bradford officiated. The church was filled with
flowers and with the friends he loved so much. Honorary pall‑bearers were
the boys from his high school graduating class. With military honors he was
laid to rest in the Colorado City Cemetery. His grave is on a little knoll
which overlooks the town and from which can be seen the tall poplar trees that
grow near his home.
We can hardly believe
that Lee is not still with us. We all feel a deep personal loss. His slow
smile, his good humor, his kindness, and his seriousness of purpose endeared
him to those with whom he came in contact. He was devoted to his family and
their happiness was uppermost in his mind. His love for his mother was often
expressed in little notes of appreciation which he would write at night after
he finished studying. She would read them the next morning as she went about
her work. The deep affection Lee and Don had for each other was unusual and
beautiful. Lee was vitally interested in Don's every activity, and Don idolized
"Buddy". The relationship between Lee and his Dad was more than that
of a father and son. They were comrades and friends.
Aubrey Lee's life cannot
be measured by the number of years that were allotted to him but by the things
which were accomplished in that brief span. As we watched him unfold the
pattern of his life, we were never disappointed, because he achieved at every
turn what he set out to do.
One of his close friends
who is now in the Army wrote this to his mother and dad, "I think about
Lee quite a lot. When the going gets rough, I try to think as he did about it.
No doubt there were times when he, too, was discouraged, but I know he decided
to give it his very best, as he did everything. I would like to be the kind of
soldier he was. Maybe he knows how hard I'm trying. I can't hope to do as well
as he did. I am probably just an average G.I, but I'm trying..."
Aubrey Lee as a soldier
felt that he personally was a guardian of American Freedom and could have
sincerely said the words of Frederick S. Wilson: "Let each and everyone of
us remember that Liberty is a gift not lightly given: that we within ourselves,
must preserve for generations yet unborn, a vision of brotherhood among men,
until one day all the world shall be ready to share it."
- Written by N. H. White, Jr. and Lena V. White
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USMA 1950