Benjamin Harrison West was the son of Benjamin Harrison West and Velera Ellen Harris. He was married to June Elizabeth Nelson.
He enlisted December 1, 1940, received his basic training in Norfolk, Va and attended school in Jacksonville, Fl, going immediately after to active duty. His last visit home was Thanksgiving 1941 then he was transferred to a Pacific base. He was at Pearl Harbor for almost a year where he saw several Cumberland county boys, among them Sam Brewer Jr and Loy, Delmer and Ogle Conatser.
He was 24 on October 3, 1942. He’d graduated high school in 1938, then attended the University of Tennessee. Afterwards, he joined his father in the plumbing business.
He became a Master Mason in 1940, and joined Eastern Star soon afterwards. He was killed at Guadalcanal in a plane crash.
- Rank: Aviation Machinist Mate Third Class
- Date of birth: 3 October 1918
- Date of death: 1 January 1943
- County: Cumberland
- Hometown: Crossville
- Service Branch: Navy
- Division/Assignment: Patrol Squadron 72
- Theater: Pacific
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Asiatic/Pacific Campaign Medal and Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Crossville City Cemetery, Crossville, Cumberland County, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar VIII, Bottom Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Benjamin H. West Jr.
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