Arthur J. Benko: B-24 Top Gunner Ace 16 kills

Shot down 9 Zeros in one day

Before WW2 Benko was a firearms expert and often loaded his own ammo. Being assigned a top gunner on a B-24 named “the Goon”, he carefully unloaded the tracer bullets after he found them to be inaccurate,misleading and easily seen by enemy fighters to avoid. His foresight paid off, when he began a killing spree on the twin .50 cal machine guns assigned to him. He shot down seven Japanese A6M Zeros and on his last mission he destroyed nine more bringing his total to sixteen. With the B-24 badly shot up and losing altitude, Benko and several others bailed out of the plane only to be captured by the Japanese and killed. Benko received the Silver Star posthumously; his body was never recovered.

He was 32 years old at the time of his death, but his Valor remains ageless. Valor is in you. Set it free.