Stoney, Benjamin Joseph Arthur “Buddy”.

Benjamin Joseph Arthur Stoney, born 10-10-1921, in Yankee Hill, Butte County, California, to Zena Clark Stoney (1896-1965) and his wife Zena Geraldine, born Clark Stoney (1900–1934) Benjamin had three brothers, James Tracy Stoney (1924–1982), Vernon Elwood Stony (1925–1981) and Melborne Gerald Stony (1926–1926)

His Maidu Indian heritage came through his mother, a member of the Clark family, a Clan of the KonKow Tribe. He had these three full brothers, in addition to two half-brothers from his step-father, Mullens.

After high school and four years of college, Benjamin found a job as watchman and guard. When the United States became involved in World War IIon the European and Pacific fronts, his sense of duty compelled him to enlist as a paratrooper in the Army’s newly formed Airborne Infantry, where the rigor, the discipline and the hard training were demanding. When the 101st Airborne was formed, only the toughest men were chosen to serve. This Division required highly motivated men, ready for hard training, to be parachuted from airplanes in hostile territory and to fight in extreme situations. Only 1800 men were selected out of 5300 initial volunteers.

Benjamin enlisted on 04-08-1942, in Los Angeles as a simple soldier, Army serial number 39530033. After basic training Benjamin was transferred to 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR, Easy Company, which later become famous, thanks to Steven Spielberg’s TV series, “Band of Brothers”. Banjamin was in a group of like-minded men (boys, actually) who were ready to fight for their country. In December of 1942 the 506 Regiment participated in a long, 125 mile march from Camp Toccoa to Atlanta, ordered by Colonel Robert Sink to show his troops were up to beating the Japanese troops who had already completed a similar exercise.  An article about the three-day march was published in some newspapers of the time.

Benjamin established a very strong bond of friendship with his fellow soldiers, who began referring to him as “Bud”. On 20-02-1943, Benjamin was promoted to Sergeant T/5 (Technician 5th class). After their long, hard training, the 101st Airborne Division was transferred to England in September 1943 for final training. Sometime prior to the D-Day jump, Bud was promoted to Sergeant T/4 and was assigned to the Intelligence Section (S-2, HQ Company 2 BT), but he remained very close to several of the men of Easy Company, who still speak of him with the respect due a missing friend.

When D-Day came, thousands of American paratroopers were dropped behind hostile lines into countless hard battles. Benjamin had his rendezvous with destiny on 07-06-1944. Here are the testimonies of some who were with him on that terrible day.

Charlie McCallister, HQ /2/506, describes in some detail the tragic death of Sergeant. Stoney:

“I remember Sergeant Stoney very well and I was with him when he was killed in Normandy. First, let me say that I joined the 506th as a teenager. I had just turned 19 and Stoney was the “older man”. He must have been 23 or 24!

He was a physical specimen, and a handsome fellow. I believe he was part Indian. Anyway, I idolized him. He was an aggressive soldier, but he was soft-spoken and always kind to me. Stoney was killed at the small village of Vierville. This village is located on the road to Carentan. We were in a column of mostly 2/506 troopers, under the command of Colonel Bob Strayer. The column crossed the “T” of an intersection, where a German machine gun cut the column and the rear portion of the column could not join those up front. The machine gun was positioned very close to the intersection and could shoot anything that tried to cross. There was a stone fence that made a right angle to the corner from which the rear part of the column had approached the intersection. Stoney, myself and a couple of other troopers took cover behind the corner of this fence, while we tried to figure out what to do about the Kraut machine gun, which was holding everything up. I don’t remember Stoney saying anything. He just tossed a grenade from the cover of the stone fence, in the direction of the machine gun, and then charged the gun with his Thompson blazing. It didn’t work. The German Machine Gun, as we would say today, blew him away. We were up against the German 6th Parachute Regiment/Fallschirmjägerregiment , under command of Generalleutnant Rüdiger von Heyking, which was very battle-wise and well disciplined”. Heyking after the war, was illegally turned over to the Soviet Army and imprisoned in the Soviet Union. He was not released from Soviet imprisonment until 1955, and died in Bad Godesberg on 18-02-1956, age 62.

Robert L. Williams, another HQ/2/506 trooper, relates:

“Stoney had jumped into Normandy just ahead of me in stick number 48. Stoney was the fourth trooper out of the door of our C-47, I was fifth. Stoney took a burst of machine gun fire at Vierville: he never knew what hit him. The battle lasted for a few hours, raging around his body. We captured 125 German prisoners and counted another 125 dead. The battalion had 6 wounded, 1 dead – Sgt. Stoney”.

“Wild Bill” Guarnere, E-Co: “Stoney was a great trooper and the nicest guy you’d ever meet”

David Kenyon “Web” Webster, of E/506, so eloquently writes of Sgt. Benjamin J. Stoney: Webster died on 09-09-1961, in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, United States, at the age of 39, and was buried in At Sea.

“Stoney was our only casualty in Vierville. Stoney, the quiet, stocky Indian from S-2. But every village had a Stoney, or two Stoneys, or many more, because that is how wars are finally fought and won- not by rich factories and the coddled Air Force, but by the infantry, who take the ground and kill the enemy, and the infantry is Stoneys”.

I don’t think there is any more that can be said about Sergeant. Benjamin Stoney. Buddy like thousands of other young Americans, left their comfortable civilian lives to undertake an ordeal that brought them to the center of history. He fought to defend his country and the nations of strangers so that they would be able to taste freedom and peace again. For this noble ideal he sacrificed his own life, with courage and pride. Together, with other brave soldiers, he deserves to be remembered by all of us so we can honor the memory of those who have given us liberty and the opportunity to live peaceful lives.

After finding that Benjamin’s burial was in Colleville, Normandy, I felt compelled to honor him by visiting the memorials there. I am in my fourth year of these annual visits to Normandy. Each time I enter the cemetery and stop at the white cross engraved with his name, I am overcome with emotions of sadness, painful melancholy, and, even, pride. The pain I feel is for the circumstances in which Benjamin died so prematurely. I am melancholy because I think of what his life could have been if he had not died that day in Vierville. I think of him returning home to his family and see him living out his serene days as an old man. The pride I feel is because he died doing his duty and I know he would not have wanted otherwise. When I approach his grave I can only cry, then gather myself in silent thought.

Once, on the morning of June 7, I was approaching the villages of St. Mere Eglise and Vierville when I was struck with a sudden, intense headache. Afterward I realized that this was about the time of day Benjamin was killed near Vierville by a German Mg42 machine gun, hitting him full in the face. It was a profound experience that I could not dismiss as coincidence.

I can see where this account of my experiences could be construed to be the product of an over-active imagination. However, I consider myself to be a rational person and can only report what happened to me. All of it was very vivid and emotionally powerful. I cannot deny what I saw and felt. I feel an unbelievable affection for Benjamin and I hope to be able to find more information on him and his family. Bud is a part of me now and I hope to keep his memory alive so he will be remembered for one of the many heroes who died for his country. Above all, I want Benjamin Stoney to be remembered as the good and honorable soul that he was.

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