Pennsylvania man bestowed with knighthood[France-WWII]

But the French have their ways of finding out things – and they used them to learn about Benek, 84, for the knighthood.

Jean-Pierre Allex-Lyoudi, French consul general to the U.S., knew Benek’s military history – from his arrival in France during World War II to how his best friend, Charles “Charlie” Hancock, died in Austria.

Lyoudi spoke about Benek’s life at a chapel ceremony on April 26 at Asbury Heights, a retirement community near Pittsburgh.

“They knew things you didn’t know they knew,” Benek said. “I thought, ‘When’s he going to keep quiet?’”

“The speech the consul made was wonderful, and really expanded on him,” said Benek’s wife, Adele, 80.

Lyoudi then dubbed her husband a “chevalier,” French for “knight,” while pinning the French Legion of Honor Medal on his lapel.

Norman Waldman, 82, an Asbury resident, was also honored. In the 82nd Airborne Division, he was captured by the Germans and made a POW for nearly a year in France during World War II.

Lyoudi esteemed the veterans for their sacrifices as American soldiers to free his country from the tyranny of the Nazi Germany. Napoleon instituted the Legion of Honor, which is considered France’s highest esteem. The medals were awarded to the first knights in 1804.

Benek is obviously his wife’s first knight. She applied for the medal for her husband two years ago. She told him: “You deserve that medal,” she said.

Adele Benek knows almost as much as her husband does about his service with the 12th Armored Division of the 7th Army.

“It’s tremendously interesting to me,” she said. “I didn’t meet him until (the war) was over. I’m so glad ... It would have been hard to live through.”

Benek’s first war assignment was driving infantry soldiers from the 12th in a half-track military vehicle for 300 miles into France – from Auffay to Luneville in November of 1944.

Benek had driven the same half track onto the ship that brought him and his outfit to Europe, he said.

After their 300-mile journey, infantry from the 12th relieved infantry from the 4th Armored Division at the Maginot Line, a series of fortresses built after World War I by the French close to the German and Italian borders.

However, during World War II, the French weren’t able to keep out the Nazis, who took it over.

“After combat at the Maginot Line, I volunteered to be a forward observer,” Benek added.

“Could you believe anyone could be that dumb?” his wife said. “It was very dangerous. We’ve met men who have said to him, ‘You should be dead.’”

As forward observers, he and three other soldiers scouted out a territory in a tank before troops were called in to strike. Benek was a gunner, and his best pal, Charlie, was the driver.

The team – which was with the 495th Armored Field Artillery Battalion under the 12th – provided protection for infantry and three battalions in the 12th, Benek said.

“We drove a tank on the front line 151 days straight. We never had a day off,” he added. “We didn’t get out very much. We slept in there with no room to sleep. We used our helmets to bathe and go to the toilet. It wasn’t fun, but it’s how we lived.”

His 151-day tour went through France, Germany and Austria. The 12th fought the most intelligent German soldiers – the SS – along with its regular army.

Benek’s first main combat was in January of 1945 in the “Battle of Herrlisheim,” referring to a city in France. It was also known as the “second Battle of the Bulge,” since it followed the famous Bulge.

“We lost 1,750 men and 60 tanks in nine days,” he added, meaning the men were either killed, wounded or captured. It was the biggest loss at one time for the 12th Armored Division.

“We ran into Nazis all the time. We were fighting every day to get to a major city to liberate it.”

After Herrlisheim, they went to Colmar Pocket, which was “one of the last strongholds Germans had in France,” Benek said.

In February of 1945, “We took it with the Free French (Army) and the 28th Pennsylvania Infantry Division.”

The French stopped to celebrate the victory with a parade, led by Charles De Gaulle, general of their army.

“The French were noted for (parades) and kissing the soldiers,” Benek said. Infantry from the 12th marched in the parade. Benek watched from his tank, he said.

The 12th also rubbed elbows with the famous Gen. George Patton, who called the division for his push into Germany – via the Rhine River – with the general’s 3rd Army.

“We fought in several towns around the Rhine” in northern France, Benek said.

The outfits searched for a bridge to cross the river, but failed to find one that hadn’t been destroyed. “Our engineers built a bridge,” Benek said, and the men crossed into Germany in March of 1945.

In April, members of the 12th were the first American soldiers to cross a bridge along the Danube River in Germany. They posted a sign to commemorate the victory.

“It was the only bridge left (on the Danube). The Germans had it ready to blow up, but we disarmed it,” Benek said. “It was a turning point in the war.”

After crossing the Danube, the 12th helped liberate large concentration camps in Landsberg, he added.

By that time, thousands of Germans were surrendering to the Americans, because they didn’t want to fall into the hands of their brutal allies, the Russians, Adele Benek noted.

“It was a crazy war, with a lot of politics. Nobody can really understand it,” Benek said. “So many civilians were doing things they should have left up to the servicemen.”

The winter before the war ended was unusually harsh, he added, with many soldiers on foot dying from exposure.

“Their feet would get stuck in the trenches,” Benek said. “It was really stinky. So many guys just want to forget it.”

After the war ended, he spent a year in Germany during the American occupation. Benek came home in April of 1946. He met his future wife through his sister, who worked with Adele.

The Beneks lived in Pittsburgh after they married, then Zelienople. He worked with American Bridge Company with U.S. Steel in Ambridge for 30 years, building bridges in house. She retired after 20 years with Heckett Division of Harsco, Butler, as a sales analyst.

The couple have been wed nearly 60 years, and lived in their serene log home in Jackson Township the past 20 years.

Benek also never shared his war experiences with his family, except in referring to Charlie’s death, his wife said.

However, after joining the 12th Armored Division Association in 2000, Benek met others like him.

“All of a sudden, it all came out and he was able to tell our children about the war,” Adele Benek said.

Made up of veterans from the 12th, the association is highly organized. It has its own museum in Abilene, Texas, a newspaper called the “Hellcat News,” and annual reunions for 12th veterans to stay connected and share experiences.

Benek has met men who had fought right around him, but he never knew – including a medic who found his best friend, Charlie, before he died.

Since time and geography was hard to keep track from within a small tank during 151 days of chaos, all Benek knew was the farmhouse was somewhere in the Austrian Alps.

For protection, Charlie ran out of the house to a nearby barn. Feeling something strange about that maneuver, Benek didn’t join his friend. Instead, he ran to their Army tank. The barn was soon hit with a mortar – with Charlie inside.

Hours later, the medic that Benek came to know decades later – at a 12th reunion – found Charlie horribly injured but still alive, and took him to the aid station. Benek learned the next day that his friend died.

Although they don’t know Charlie’s relatives, the Beneks have made sure the fallen soldier has been remembered on war memorials in his home town of Kokomo, Ind., and the 12th’s museum in Texas.

And Benek tries not to wear his war experience on his sleeve, he said. “Everybody wants everything to bother them. Why?”

He does allow his many certificates and medals for his service to be displayed in his home. His worn World War II jacket bears six medals alone.

He recently wore the medals during the Mercer Memorial Day 500 parade, and added his new one as a French knight to the pack.

“I guess I could say I was honored, but a lot of water has gone under the bridge since (the war) ... You can’t let it bother you. We all forget most of it,” Benek said.

Thanks again hero.

'About 150-plus American veterans receive France’s highest honor yearly. '

I'm glad someone in France still appreciates our heroes.

'About 150-plus American veterans receive France’s highest honor yearly. '

In all, more than 10,000 Americans have been awarded the Legion of Honor.

I'd wager that a higher percentage of Frenchmen appreciate the United States than Americans. In the last six months, for example, the French elected a fiercely pro-market, pro-American President and parliament, whereas Americans elected a fiercely anti-market, anti-American Congress. Who should be taking lessons from whom?

the Maginot Line, a series of fortresses built after World War I by the French close to the German and Italian borders.

I don't know that I've ever heard the French defenses along the Italian border being considered part of the Maginot line. The Maginot line is generally considered to run along the French-German border.

The article doesn't make entirely clear that the 12th was 'loaned' by the 7th to the 3rd Army to close the Colmar pocket and then for the advance on the Rhine. It was then returned to the 7th Army for the drive through Germany and into Austria.

There is a map showing the general movements of the 12th AD here:
http://www.newrational.com/veteran/a2b1.html

and a contemporaneous history here
http://www.newrational.com/veteran/a2b6.html

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