TDIH: Steven Bennett's Medal of Honor

He sacrificed himself, but he saved a Marine.

On this day in 1974, a hero’s family accepts the Medal of Honor on his behalf. “He was a fine young fella,” Steven Bennett’s uncle would later reminisce, “who came from a modest family and came up from moderate means. He worked his way through school. . . . He was a first-class citizen.”

Bennett was commissioned into the Air Force immediately after graduating from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He learned to fly bombers and fighters and received forward air controller training before being sent to Vietnam in early 1972.

“He performed exceptionally well,” historian Edward F. Murphy explains. “In the next sixty days, he earned four Air Medals.”

Trouble came on June 29, 1972. The young Captain was then flying an OV-10 Bronco in support of some Marines near Quang Tri City. A Marine gunfire spotter, Capt. Michael Brown, was also riding in the back of Bennett’s light observation aircraft.

For about three hours, the two men worked to direct air strikes from U.S. naval vessels. 

Things were going well. Indeed, Bennett was about to fly a damage assessment run over a destroyed target when a call came in from a friendly unit: They’d been cornered by a large enemy force and needed help.

Tactical air support was unavailable, and the U.S. naval vessels hovering nearby refused to provide artillery support. The friendly troops were too close to the enemy, and they feared they’d do more harm than good.

Bennett’s plane was not heavily armed, but there was no way that he was going to leave those friendly troops stranded. Determined to do what he could, he turned and made four strafing runs over the enemy. It was working, and he could see that the enemy was beginning to turn back.

He turned for one final attack, but his luck was about to run out.

On this fifth strafing run, Bennett’s plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile. The left engine caught fire, and one wing became unstable. Bennett knew he wouldn’t make it to a friendly airfield, so he turned to Brown. They would need to eject.

Unfortunately, Brown’s parachute was in shreds, destroyed by the same missile that had hit the plane.

“Although Capt. Bennett had a good parachute,” his Medal citation explains, “he knew that if he ejected, [Brown] would have no chance of survival. With complete disregard for his own life, Capt. Bennett elected to ditch the aircraft into the Gulf of Tonkin, even though he realized that a pilot of this type aircraft had never survived a ditching.”

What went through Bennett’s head as his plane headed toward the water? He had to have known what was about to happen.  The impact of the water crumpled the cockpit, leaving Bennett trapped. The young pilot sank with his plane. In the meantime, Brown escaped the wreckage and was rescued.

Bennett sacrificed himself, but he’d saved the Marine.

Captain Bennett received a Medal of Honor for his action, but he’s received other honors as well.  In 1997, a Navy ship was named for him—the first ship named for a member of the United States Air Force.

His daughter participated in the christening of the ship.

“It’s been a long time since he died,” Angela Bennett said, “and I can’t believe people still do things for him. . . . I think it’s great.”

Rest in peace, Sir.

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