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BISBEE — A monument for 77 Bisbee area residents who lost their lives during World War II was dedicated Sunday, 67 years to the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that led the United States into entering the global conflict.
Much of the monument is dedicated to the city’s big hero, Army Air Forces Technical Sgt. Art Benko, a top turret gunner on a B-24.
One of the 76 other names on the large granite memorial is James J. Murphy, who was a seaman first class aboard the USS Arizona that was sunk in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
When the Japanese struck military installations in what was the then territory of Hawaii, the USS Arizona lost 1,177 of its crew of sailors and Marines. Only 333 survived after a bomb from a Japanese plane exploded in the battleship’s forward magazine.
  
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Murphy, whose middle name was Joseph, was the first Bisbeeite to die in World War II. In 1944, his mother help dedicate the USS Bisbee, a Navy patrol frigate manned by men of the U.S. Coast Guard, that was to earn two battle stars in the Pacific theater of operations and added another three during the Korean War.
Bisbee Mayor Jack Porter said taking part in the dedication ceremony was “a privilege.” And, he said, the monument being placed at the Lavender Pit viewpoint is “perfect.”
Benko, who enlisted in the military soon after the attack on the United States, was 30 and worked as an electrician in Phelps Dodge’s Copper Queen mines. The pit is near an area he worked, the mayor told more than 250 people at the event.
George Bays, one of the leaders in having the monument made, said it is appropriate for Bisbee to remember Benko and the others who died during World War II.
As he and other speakers made their comments, more than two dozen men who served in World War II sat behind them.
One was Dick Cooksley, who was captured by the Japanese in the Philippines and is a Bataan Death March survivor. After being freed from a prisoner-of-war camp, he went on to serve during the Korean War, eventually retiring from the Army and moving to Bisbee in 1964.
He was chosen to put a wreath on the monument.
Of being given that honor, Cooksley pointed to the monument and said, “They (those whose names are inscribed on the memorial) are the heroes.”
Another multiple war veteran was Stewart Wetstein, who served during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
But his service as an Army medic during those conflicts wasn’t continuous. After each war, he left the military, only to join up again when another conflict started. His total military time is somewhere between 13 and 15 years.
More than one speaker knew someone who had died during the war.
Billy Webb’s name was mentioned, and a speaker said he went to school with him.
Lifelong Bisbee resident Cora Durbin looked at her brother’s name for a long time. She had two brothers who served during World War II, one survived, but Peter K. Ivanovich did not.
Nick Pavlovich, another proponent of the monument, said the names on the memorial are of individuals “who went willing to war and now for many their final resting places are in Europe and the Pacific.”
When it comes to Benko, his remains were never found.
On Nov. 15, 1943, he was flying on a bombing mission to attack docks and warehouses in Hong Kong. His bomber, named “The Goon,” had mechanical problems and the pilot ordered the crew to bail out, and Benko was one of the ones who did. But the problem engine was later corrected, and the rest of the crew remained on board. The B-24 did not complete the mission, but headed for a landing at an air base in a part of China not controlled by the Japanese.
Unfortunately, Benko, who could not swim, apparently landed in a river and drowned, although there are no official reports to confirm that. There also is no verification to the myth he was captured by the Japanese and crucified.
Benko is a legend because of his ability to shoot down attacking Japanese fighter aircraft, including seven on one mission involving a target in French Indochina. He also is credited with downing nine other enemy aircraft on other missions, bringing his total to 16.
The mission on which he flamed seven Japanese aircraft happened two weeks before his final flight.
Retired Air Force Col. Kent Laughbaum related that when he was approached about the possibility of doing something for Benko on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, he couldn’t believe the story he was told about the man.
He had the wing historian at the air base in Tucson check out Benko, and he found out everything was true.
Within the past year, the sport and fitness center on Davis-Monthan was named in Benko’s honor. Benko had done his B-24 training on the air base before he and the rest of The Goon’s crew went to China for combat missions.
Laughbaum said that what is important for the old copper mining community is that Benko “was a true son of Bisbee.”
Benko’s achievements were so dramatic that an effort is being made to see if he can be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor or Distinguished Service Cross.
Retired Army Col. Robert Browne has gathered reams of documents to support the effort.
Bob Currieo, one of Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain’s staffers in Arizona, noted that effort. Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, whose district includes Bisbee, also supports the effort.
As the speeches ended, echo taps were played by two buglers, as the notes reverberated through the hills surrounding the cavernous Lavender Pit.
Ceremony notes
Many people were involved in the Sunday ceremony dedicating the monument to Bisbee area service people who died during World War II.
The honor guard was made up of Boy Scout Troop 1, the first Boy Scout unit in Arizona.
Members of the Bisbee High School Band played music.
The site, as well as putting in the base for the monument and doing other work, was donated by mining company Freeport McMoRan, which owns the former Phelps Dodge property in Bisbee.
A copy of a certificate Art Benko received in 1934 as being a qualified as a Red Cross first aid provider for Phelps Dodge was presented to Terry Maddox of Freeport McMoRan in appreciation for helping make the monument a reality.
Herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Pancho wrote on Dec 9, 2008 11:01 AM: