Deceased Members
Ben entered the US Air Force in November 1951 and was sent to San Antonio TX for basic training. In March 1952 he was transferred to Biloxi MS for radio training and to learn Morse Code. While there he was cleared for security operations by the FBI and in October of 1952 went back to San Antonio for final training. In January 1953, Ben was sent to Anchorage Alaska. However, that was quite a trip of seven scheduled flights in all. Two were cancelled. They were four hour and eight hour flights, which landed where they took off from. Five more were cancelled because of ice fog and plane problems after they were half way to Alaska. Ben spent 16 months in NakNak, monitoring Russian MIG flights during the Korean War. He returned to the US in April 1954 and spent the rest of his service at Stewart Air Force Base in New York. Ben spent most of his life busy farming. He joined Post #437 in 1969 and served as Commander six years, Finance Officer about 46 years and several years as Chaplain. Ben served two years as Dane County Commander, ten years as Dane County Finance Officer and four years as District Chaplin.