A1C Benny E. Seabourne

Brother KIA in Vietnam remembered and honored

A1C Benny E. Seabourne was deployed with 7th Air Force, 505 Tactical Control Group (505 TCG), 620th Tactical Control Squadron, when he was Killed In Action during a mortar attack in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam in July of 1967.

Benny’s sister Sandi was thirteen years old when he died. She and her son Bruce were delighted to be reunited with Benny’s Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

“Two of Benny’s brothers were also serving in Vietnam at the time Benny was killed, and it became a Saving Private Ryan kind of thing. The were pulled out of Vietnam since Benny was lost. They both came home”, Bruce told us.

“Benny was so loved, he was the big brother everyone looked up to - he was the ‘rah rah’ guy. His death crushed his mother - she passed soon after he did. She had a heart issue, and losing Benny was too much for her.

The family just didn’t understand - how could this happen to Benny? How could he be gone? He was their Captain America.”

Sandi shared memories of her brother with us:

“You see, I was only thirteen years old when my brother Benny was killed in Vietnam. I did not have enough time with this gentle, kind, and decent midwestern man. Benny would send me sweet letters and postcards and would have each man in his barracks send me a note! A gift would arrive from Germany, Vietnam, or wherever he was in the world. Once, my parents’ refrigerator was not working properly, and a new refrigerator arrived at our doorstep. That’s the brother I knew and loved so deeply.”

It is stories like these from the family of Benny Seabourne that give us the opportunity to remember the incredible, irreplaceable men and women who serve our country.

Thank you Benny, for your service and your sacrifice! We remember you!

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