Edward Clyde Benfold was only 21 years old when he was killed as a US Naval corpsman serving with the First Marine Division in the Korean War. It was his heroic actions there that made him the posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor.
The Staten Island native, born Jan. 15, 1931, the son of Edward and Glenys Benfold, grew up in his early years in Haddon Heights before the family moved to Audubon, the New Jersey City of Heroes.
He graduated from Audubon High School in 1949, and enlisted in the Navy in nearby Philadelphia days after graduation.
Following recruit training at Great Lakes, he was selected for an “A” training school at the Naval Hospital Corps School and was promoted to hospital apprentice that same year. In April 1950, he as transferred to the Naval Hospital at Newport, R.I. where he completed the course and was promoted to hospital man, third class.
He then had further training at the Field Medical Service School, Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, graduating with a designation of Medical Field Technician. He went on to study in a four month course in Neuropsychiatric Nursing Technique at the Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, graduating with the designation Neuropsychiatry Technician.
He then deployed for duty with the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific (FMFPac).
Returning to the United States, the sailor served for a short time again at the Marine Barracks at Camp Pendleton before returning to the Pacific area and rejoining Fleet Marine Force, Ground. It wads in July 1952, when Benfold was assigned to the 1st Marine Division in Korea with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
Benfold’s personal life was as active and moving as his Naval life. He was the son of Edward Benfold, a first engineer in the Merchant Marine during World War II. The senior Benfold was serving aboard the Castilla, a Honduran steamship built in Ireland in 1927. The ship was enroute to Jamaica with flour with it was struck by a torpedo from German U-Boat 107 during World War II. That was June 7, 1942, and the ship sunk so quickly it was not possible to lower lifeboats. The ship’s master and 20 crewmen went down with the ship and one other crewman died in the life raft. Thirty-five merchant seaman survived, but 24 were lost in that attack.
In June 1951, in the midst of his training and movement with the Navy, Benfold married Dorothy Groff and the couple had one child.
Benfold was killed in action Sept. 5, 1952, while saving the lives of two wounded Marines during the Battle of Bunker Hill, the ten day battle in western Korea.
His Medal of Honor citation reads:
CITATION:
For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Hospital Corpsman, attached to a company in the First Marine Division during operations against enemy aggressor forces in Korea on September 5, 1952. When his company was subjected to heavy artillery and mortar barrages, followed by a determined assault during the hours of darkness by an enemy force estimated at battalion strength, HC3c. BENFOLD resolutely moved from position to position in the face of intense hostile fire, treating the wounded and lending words of encouragement. Leaving the protection of his sheltered position to treat the wounded when the platoon area in which he was working was attacked from both the front and the rear, he moved forward to an exposed ridge line where he observed two Marines in a large crater. As he approached the two men to determine their condition, an enemy soldier threw two grenades into the crater while two other enemy charged the position. Picking up a grenade in each hand, HC3c. BENFOLD leaped out of the crater and hurled himself against the onrushing hostile soldiers, pushing the grenades against their chests and killing both the attackers. Mortally wounded while carrying out this heroic act, HC3c. BENFOLD, by his great personal valor and resolute spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of almost certain death, was directly responsible for saving the lives of his two comrades. His exceptional courage reflects the highest credit upon himself and enhances the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for others.
The Medal of Honor was presented July 15, 1953 by Rear Adm John .JH. Brown, Jr., Commandant of the 4th Naval District. It was presented to the sailor’s infant son, Edward Joseph, his closest relatives since his wife had remarried.
Hospital Corpsman Third Class Clyde Edward Benfold is buried at Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly, NJ
The sailor also earned the Purple Heart for injuries suffered in battle, as well as the Navy Good Conduct and Navy Commendation medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal with FMF Combat Operations Insignia and bronze campaign state, the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, the United Nations Service Medal and the Korean War Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
In addition to the memorial and annual ceremonies at Audubon High School in which the entire borough participates, and honors the three Audubon residents who received the Congressional Medal of Honor, the only small city in the United States with such an honor, Corpsman Benfold has also had a ship, DDG 65 named in his honor. The guided missile destroyer was commissioned Nov. 9, 1994, and has as its motto,, Award with Valor. She is homeported at Yokosuka, Japan.
The Marine University Education Council at Quantico, Virginia whose purpose is to prepare leaders for military challenges and preserve the history of the Marine Corps, also remembers Benfold in their history and legacy at the Center.
The Benfold Center, Naval Branch Health Clinic (Building S-771), in Millington, Tennessee was also named in his honor.
Nelson Vogel Brittin Samuel Major Sampler
