LEST WE FORGET 67 BEESON, John Dafoe WWII John was born in Adanac, Saskatchewan on December 20, 1917. He enlisted on June 26, 1941 and served in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps in England, at Juno Beach, Normandy, and in France, Belgium, and Holland. After finishing Basic Training in Vernon, BC in September 1941, John stayed to take motorcycle training. When he was sent to England, his ship was sunk by a torpedo but most aboard made it into life boats and were returned to Halifax to wait for another ship. In Normandy, John was a truck convoy escort on a motorcycle and was injured one night when he crashed his motorcycle. He also contracted pneumonia and pleurisy. John was discharged on October 30, 1945. He received the 1939-1945 Star, the France and Germany Star, the Defence Medal, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Bar, the George VI Medal, and the Normandy Campaign Medal. He joined The Royal Canadian Legion in Valemount, BC and then joined Branch 210 in Ft. Assiniboine, Alberta. John passed away on October 14, 2004. BENTZ, Daniel WWII Daniel was born in Ravenscrag, Saskatchewan in 1918. He enlisted in World War II with the Canadian Army in May 1942. He served in England, Italy and Holland with the Saskatoon Light Infantry 1st Battalion. He was discharged in November 1945 in Regina, Saskatchewan and was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, the Italy Star, the France and Germany Star, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and the War Medal 1939-1945. He was a Life Member of The Royal Canadian Legion Sundre Branch 223, where he received the 50-year Long Service Medal. Daniel passed away on February 11, 2008. BENDER, Carl Auguste WWI Cadet Carl August Bender was working as a teller in Conquest with the Royal Bank (he originally worked at Quebec Bank before it merged with the Royal Bank) when he enlisted with the Royal Flying Corps in Winnipeg on November 17, 1917. His records indicate that he was born on May 28, 1894 in Montmagny, Quebec, the son of Eugene and Kate (Forrest) Bender. The family moved to Winnipeg in 1911. Carl began training with Number 8 Squadron at Camp Rathbun near Deseronto, Hastings County, Ontario. Aviators from Britain, the USA and Canada trained at this base. On the morning of June 10, 1918, he successfully completed two spins with an instructor aboard. In the afternoon, flying solo in a Curtiss JN4 C1004 aircraft, he failed to come out of a spin. His plane crashed approximately one-and-a-half miles from Camp Rathbun, instantly killing 24-year-old Cadet Bender. His grave is in Deseronto Cemetery.
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