Benavidez Monument Scheduled for Dedication November 11th: Foundation receives $10,000 donation to help finish project

Benavidez Memorial Foundation members breathed a long sigh of relief at last months meeting when Board members Leo Foisner and Roger Benavidez each donated $5,000 to finish the memorial project honoring their cousin and brother, respectively.The sculpture will be unveiled at a grand dedication ceremony on Veterans Day, November 11, 2004, at 11:00 a.m. at the newly named park on highway 87 in Cuero, across from the Cuero High School.

Cuero, TX (PRWEB) October 31, 2004 -- Benavidez Memorial Foundation members breathed a long sigh of relief at last months meeting when Board members Leo Foisner and Roger Benavidez each donated $5,000 to finish the memorial project honoring their cousin and brother, respectively. The $10,000 donation represents the two largest donations made to the group in their four years of fund raising. The sculpture will be unveiled at a grand dedication ceremony on Veterans Day, November 11, 2004, at 11:00 a.m. at the newly named park on highway 87 in Cuero, across from the Cuero High School.
   
The life sculpture of Benavidez depicts a weary but prayerful soldier, perhaps in grateful solitude or reverent remembrance. The foundation board members spent many hours discussing the design concept and in the end, agreed the memorial should portray more than just one day in Roys life. It is how Roy would want to be remembered; the son of a Texas sharecropper who grew up to be a Master Sgt. in the Green Berets and a beloved American Hero.
   
A deeply religious man, Benavidez was committed to God, family and his country. Roy Benavidez spent a lifetime serving his country though he never considered himself a hero, even after President Reagan placed the Congressional Medal of Honor around his neck. He was, of course, as anyone who has ever read his story would know . . . an extraordinary and courageous man and a true patriot.
   
Six hours in hell" is how Msg. Roy Benavidez described the rescue mission that nearly took his life in 1968. President Ronald Reagan, who decorated Benavidez with the Medal of Honor in 1981, said if the story of his heroism were a movie script, you would not believe it."
   
On May 2, 1968, MSG Roy Benavidez responded to the terrified radio call of a fellow soldier, pleading to be rescued. The soldier was part of 12 man Special Forces Reconnaissance Team who found themselves completely surrounded by a North Vietnamese battalion. Benavidez voluntarily boarded the extraction helicopter and began what he later described as six hours in hell."

The helicopter was forced to land just seventy five meters away from the enemys position. Benavidez made the sign of the Cross, jumped out of the aircraft as it hovered above the ground and ran toward his comrades, armed with his Army issued knife and a medic bag. He was shot almost immediately and shrapnel from an exploding grenade pummeled his face and head. When he made it to the teams position, he found several soldiers already dead and the others seriously wounded. Despite painful injuries of his own, Sgt. Benavidez began treating the wounded, repositioning the team members, distributing ammunition and calling in air strikes. He dragged and carried the wounded to the extraction helicopter and provided protective fire by running alongside the aircraft as it moved to pick up the remaining team members.
            
Sgt. Benavidez went back into the enemy fire to recover classified documents from a dead team leader and was shot in the stomach and sustained even more shrapnel injuries, this time in his back. At almost the same time, the helicopter pilot was mortally wounded and the aircraft crashed. In extremely critical condition, Sergeant Benavidez made his way back to help the wounded out of the wreckage and positioned them into a defensive perimeter while he called in air strikes to permit another extraction attempt. On this second attempt to extract his comrades, Sgt. Benavidez was attacked by a North Vietnamese soldier who clubbed and stabbed him before meeting his fate at the American Sergeants hand.

By the time Sgt. Benavidez allowed himself to be pulled into the rescue helicopter, he had over thirty wounds and had been holding his stomach tightly to keep his intestines from spilling out while he ran. Rendered completely immobile from the loss of blood and riddled with injuries, a doctor thought he was dead. When the medic attempted to zip the body bag closed around Benavidez, the soldier managed to spit in the doctors face, letting him know he was still alive. The miracle of his survival and subsequent recovery are matched only by the magnitude of his spirit.
Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez was proud to be an American. In John McCains speech at the LULAC Annual Gala in 1999, he said, All Americans should be proud – very proud – that Roy Benavidez was one of us. I wouldnt want to live in a country that didnt recognize how much we needed such a good man. I prefer to live in a hopeful country. I prefer to live in Roy Benavidez America."

While Benavidez has been honored many times over with schools, parks and a ship being named for him, this is the first national monument to be erected. For information about the Dedication ceremony or the sculpture, visit www.Benavidezmemorial.com or call 361-275-9142. To contact the artist, call 512-756-7731.

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