Lt. Robert Irvin Benedict
Kentucky Post, Thursday, 17 September 1942, page 1
Six Northern Kentucky youths have been reported causalities or
missing by the War Department Thursday.
Lt. Robert I Benedict, pilot of a Flying Fortress, was reported missing. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence R Benedict, 622 Liberty street, Newport. He enlisted Aug 14, 1941 and was commissioned in March. In July Lt. Benedict and a buddy, Lt. William Ruehlmann, Cincinnati, brought their Fortresses to Cincinnati and visited their families for a short time. Later both men were sent overseas and wrote home form somewhere in England.
A graduate of Newport High School, Lt. Benedict has been missing since Sept 6, his parents were informed. He also attended Ohio Mechanics Institute and the University of Cincinnati.
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Kentucky Post, Friday, 18 September 1942, page 1
Special services for Lt. Robert Irvin Benedict, 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Benedict, 622 Liberty street, Newport will be held at the First Baptist Church, Newport, Sunday night. Lt. Benedict, pilot of a Flying Fortress in the US Army Air Corps, was reported missing in action in the European theater, Sep 6.
One of the youngest pilots in the Army Air Corps, he enlisted in August 1941 and received his commission in March. He had been graduated from the Newport High School in 1939 and had later taken courses at the Ohio Mechanics Institute and the University of Cincinnati. Dr. H C Wayman, pastor of the First Baptist Church, of which Lt. Benedict was a member, said:
"We are having this service to honor Irvin, (Lt. Benedict was called Irvin by his friends) a hero for God and country. We are praying that if Irwin is still living, kind hands and hearts may minister to him, though he be a prisoner of war. He is the first of our church family to carry the war to the enemies of God and man." Dr. Wayman announced persons not attending services elsewhere were invited to this service.
Visiting soldiers will participate in the service, it was announced. Besides his parents Lt. Benedict has two brothers and two sisters.
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Kentucky Post, Monday, 11 October 1943, page 1
Lt. Robert I Benedict, son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Benedict, 622 Liberty street, Newport, missing since Sept 5, 1942, after his bomber was shot down in a raid over occupied France, is assumed to be dead, the War Department advised his parents Monday.
Lt. Benedict was a pilot of a US Flying Fortress. His Fortress, according to information given his parents was seen shot down by other members of the flying squadron. Mr. and Mrs. Benedict were given the Purple Heart award which has been awarded for their son's service. Lt. Benedict was a graduate of Newport High School and studied at the University of Cincinnati.
According to word received by his parents, members of Lt. Benedict's crew were seen to bail out of the disabled bomber. Where or not Lt. Benedict was among those to bail out could not be ascertained. Having been missing for a year, the War Department assumed the flyer to have been killed in action.