ORIGINAL POSTING DATE
September 5, 2023

BIOGRAPHY
Edward Clyde Benfold was born on Staten Island, New York, on January 15, 1931 and, at the age of 6, came with his family to the Borough of Haddon Heights. He was the only child of Edward S. Benfold, a British citizen who was born in Calcutta, India, and Glenys MacKensie Adams Benfold from Bucksport, Maine. His father was a Merchant Marine Officer during World War II and, while serving on the Merchant Ship USS CASTILLA (a troop transport ship in the Atlantic), drowned when the ship was torpedoed and sunk by an enemy submarine while carrying troops to the European front. Following his death, Edward's father was the recipient of the U. S. Merchant Mariners' Medal.
 
Known by his friends as Teddy, Edward was a member of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Haddon Heights and a student at Audubon High School. A member of the AHS Class of 1949, he was a color guardsman in the school band, a member of the senior choir and a member of both the Junior play (Our Town, in the role of Howie Newsome) and the senior play (My Sister Eileen, in the role of a drunk). In addition to his participation in school activities, Edward served in the Camden Wing of the Civil Air Patrol for two years.
 
Edward enlisted in the service in May of 1949. After training at the Great Lakes Naval Station, he served at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital, at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and at Camp Pendleton in California.
 
Edward met his wife Dorothy (nee Groff) on a blind date in January, 1951. A courtship began that led to their marriage in St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Camden, New Jersey on June 9, 1951.
 
In the fall of 1951, Edward was transferred to Camp Pendleton and participated in the A-Bomb Test on the Yucca Flat testing grounds in the Nevada desert on May 1, 1952.
 
The couple had a son, Edward Joseph, born on May 15, 1952, while Edward was at Camp Pendleton. Edward saw his wife and then-two week old son while on a short leave and, upon his return to Camp Pendleton, was notified that he had been ordered to Korea. In mid-July, 1952, Edward left the West Coast for Korea. Following his arrival, he wrote to his wife, explaining that he had been assigned as a medic to the 1st Marine Division at Bunker Hill.
 
On September 5, 1952, just three weeks after his arrival in Korea, Edward was killed in action while treating two Marines. Enemy grenades were tossed into the foxhole where Benfold was tending to the wounds of the two men. He picked up the grenades, leaped from the foxhole and charged the oncoming soldiers, sacrificing his life to save those of the two wounded Marines. He was 21 years old at the time of his death.
 
CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION
For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving in operations against enemy aggressor forces. 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 rear, he moved forward to an exposed ridgeline 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 U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for others.
 
PRESENTATION
HC3c Benfold's Congressional Medal of Honor was presented posthumously to his son, Edward Joseph Benfold, on July 16, 1953, at Philadelphia Naval Base, Pennsylvania. The presenting officer was Rear Admiral John H. Brown, Jr., Commandant of the 4th Naval District.
 
FINAL RESTING PLACE
HC3c Benfold is buried in Beverly National Cemetery, Beverly, New Jersey.
 
SOURCE LINKS
https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/edward-clyde-ted-benfold
http://www.usmm.org/killed/b.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20060508065437/http://www.medalofhonor.com/EdwardBenfold.htm