I just wanted to make this post in memory of my father, Captain William Robert (Bill) Bennett, Jr.. My dad was a navigator in a B-58 Hustler. He died on June 14, 1967 at age 31. At that time, my family lived at Bunker Hill Air Force Base in Indiana. My mom was 32 years old, I was 6, and my brother was 3. Unfortunately, because of my young age at the time of his death, I don’t have a lot of memories of my dad. Luckily, the ones I do have are mostly positive. One memory I have is when my mother was informed of my dad’s death. We lived in a duplex on base. My brother and I were playing on a swing set that was part of a neighborhood playground kinda behind our house. I was pushing him on the swings when I saw a car pull into our driveway. I saw two men get out of the car and knock on the door. My mom answered the door and a few seconds later, she collapsed to the floor. I remember my brother and I ran to the house to see what was wrong. I don’t have any memories of the rest of that day, but at my age now, I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for my mom to explain to her two young sons that their dad wasn’t coming home again!
We moved to Columbia, SC after his death because that’s where my mother’s parents lived. My dad is buried there. I have a two distinct memories of his funeral. I remember the 21 gun salute and when they removed the American flag from his coffin, folded it, and handed it to my mom. We lived with my grandparents for a few months before my mom bought us a house. My mom remarried 3 years later to my stepfather and we moved to Greenville, SC, where I still live today. My stepfather had 3 daughters, so we became one big family.
While on a company trip with my boss and a few other employees about 25 years ago, I was in Dayton, OH. My boss was former Air Force, and we realized that the National Museum of the USAF was close by at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and decided to pay it a visit when we got a chance. Since this was before I was on the internet, neither of us knew anything about the displays at the museum. Imagine my surprise when, while walking through The Cold War Gallery inside the museum, I see a B-58 Hustler in all its glory! Seeing it stopped me dead in my tracks! Not only did they have the bomber on display, but beneath it, was an ejection capsule too! It was a very emotional experience for me! I spent the rest of our time there walking around the plane and inspecting the ejection capsule up close. It definitely was surreal. Before leaving the museum, I went to the gift shop and bought a couple of things. I picked up a postcard of the B-58, and I ordered a very detailed mahogany scale model of the B-58 Hustler (pictured below) that I had sent to my house, and cherish still today. Here is a recent video that someone took of their visit to the museum. Starting at about the 3:40 point, you can see the B-58 and the ejection capsule very well.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4jBhpeyhW0&t=23s[/ame]
When I got home from that business trip, I decided to use the postcard I bought to make something to remember my dad. I found some other items of his and decided to get them framed. They include the postcard, his dog tags, a gold “m2” pin he received for going Mach 2, and 4 of his patches. Two of the patches were worn by him and two of them were new and had never been sewn on. I will include a picture of it below.
A couple of years ago, I stumbled across the Facebook post below from June 14, 2019 done by the Grissom Air Museum. Bunker Hill Air Force Base was renamed Grissom Air Force Base in 1968 in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, a native of Mitchell, Ind. Colonel Grissom was one of America's original seven astronauts and was killed during a fire in his Apollo capsule at Cape Kennedy, Fl. The post was done to honor my father, which was very nice, but I must admit that it was a difficult read the first time I saw it, especially some of the comments. If you click on and read ALL of the comments, you will understand why.
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Sometimes I wonder how different my life would have been if my dad hadn’t died back then. Thanks for allowing me to share this with you folks, part of my internet family.
Larry
We moved to Columbia, SC after his death because that’s where my mother’s parents lived. My dad is buried there. I have a two distinct memories of his funeral. I remember the 21 gun salute and when they removed the American flag from his coffin, folded it, and handed it to my mom. We lived with my grandparents for a few months before my mom bought us a house. My mom remarried 3 years later to my stepfather and we moved to Greenville, SC, where I still live today. My stepfather had 3 daughters, so we became one big family.
While on a company trip with my boss and a few other employees about 25 years ago, I was in Dayton, OH. My boss was former Air Force, and we realized that the National Museum of the USAF was close by at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and decided to pay it a visit when we got a chance. Since this was before I was on the internet, neither of us knew anything about the displays at the museum. Imagine my surprise when, while walking through The Cold War Gallery inside the museum, I see a B-58 Hustler in all its glory! Seeing it stopped me dead in my tracks! Not only did they have the bomber on display, but beneath it, was an ejection capsule too! It was a very emotional experience for me! I spent the rest of our time there walking around the plane and inspecting the ejection capsule up close. It definitely was surreal. Before leaving the museum, I went to the gift shop and bought a couple of things. I picked up a postcard of the B-58, and I ordered a very detailed mahogany scale model of the B-58 Hustler (pictured below) that I had sent to my house, and cherish still today. Here is a recent video that someone took of their visit to the museum. Starting at about the 3:40 point, you can see the B-58 and the ejection capsule very well.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4jBhpeyhW0&t=23s[/ame]
When I got home from that business trip, I decided to use the postcard I bought to make something to remember my dad. I found some other items of his and decided to get them framed. They include the postcard, his dog tags, a gold “m2” pin he received for going Mach 2, and 4 of his patches. Two of the patches were worn by him and two of them were new and had never been sewn on. I will include a picture of it below.
A couple of years ago, I stumbled across the Facebook post below from June 14, 2019 done by the Grissom Air Museum. Bunker Hill Air Force Base was renamed Grissom Air Force Base in 1968 in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, a native of Mitchell, Ind. Colonel Grissom was one of America's original seven astronauts and was killed during a fire in his Apollo capsule at Cape Kennedy, Fl. The post was done to honor my father, which was very nice, but I must admit that it was a difficult read the first time I saw it, especially some of the comments. If you click on and read ALL of the comments, you will understand why.
Log into Facebook
Sometimes I wonder how different my life would have been if my dad hadn’t died back then. Thanks for allowing me to share this with you folks, part of my internet family.
Larry
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