Person    | Male  Born 19/1/1917  Died 17/11/2010

Joe Bennett

Categories: Armed Forces

Countries: USA

War served, WW2 i

Commemorated on a memorial as having served in, and survived, WW2.

Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Lee Bennett was born on 19 January 1917 in Boise, Ada County, Idaho, USA, the eldest of the four children of Earl Phillips Bennett (1893-1977) and Ethel Lee Bennett née Bailey (1891-1970).

In 1940 he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was a pilot holding the rank of Flight Sergeant and came to England in 1941 where he was assigned to No.133 Squadron at RAF Biggin Hill, Kent being promoted to the rank of Pilot Officer. When in August 1942 the squadron was disbanded and became the 336th Fighter Squadron in the United States Army Air Corps he transferred to the new squadron. On 11 March 1943 was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and in March 1944 he became an Engineering Officer, assigned to Headquarters, VIII Fighter Command.

He remained in the USAF after the war, serving at bases in Arizona, Texas and New Mexico, as well as one tour in England as a maintenance officer. In November 1963 he retired from the USAF as a Lieutenant Colonel. He became an engineer for Custom Pools Company in Albuquerque, New Mexico, retiring in 1980, having married Billie Brunette Phillips (1917-1995). They had one daughter. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.

He died, aged 93 years, on 17 November 2010 in Hobbs, Lea County, New Mexico, and was buried in Section 9, Site 1117-A, in the Santa Fe National Cemetery, 501 North Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Joe Bennett

Commemorated ati

Eagle Squadrons

{On the front of the pillar, facing north, into the square, below a carved im...

Read More

Other Subjects

W. J. Dunmore

W. J. Dunmore

Co-partner or employee of the South Suburban Gas Company. Served but did not die in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War served, WW1
1 memorial
G. E. Taylor

G. E. Taylor

Co-partner or employee of the South Suburban Gas Company. Served but did not die in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War served, WW1
1 memorial
George Arthur Roberts

George Arthur Roberts

Soldier and Fireman. Born in Trinidad, he was one of the first black men to join the British Army. In WW1, he earned a reputation for throwing bombs back over enemy lines and was nicknamed the 'Coc...

Person, Armed Forces, Community / Clubs, Emergency Services, Race Issues, Caribbean Islands, France, Turkey

War served, WW2
1 memorial
Evacuation of Namsos

Evacuation of Namsos

The Namsos Campaign in Norway, was fought between Anglo-French/Norwegian forces, and German forces. After heavy fighting, the German forces took the upper hand, and the decision was made to evacuat...

Event, Armed Forces, Norway

1 memorial
Lieutenant Ernest Harold Canning D.F.C.

Lieutenant Ernest Harold Canning D.F.C.

Ernest Harold Canning was born on 10 August 1895, the fifth of the seven children of Frederick George Canning (1860-1921) and Janet Canning née Barnes (b.1854). His birth was registered in the 3rd ...

Person, Armed Forces, France

War dead, WW1
1 memorial