SSGT Benjamin Arthur Thompson, Jr. was assigned to Company D, 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry, and 9th Infantry Division.

Benjamin was my brother. He was born on July 24, 1945. Dad and Benjamin enjoyed hunting and fishing. There was one time where they were fishing on the causeway in Mobile next to a drawbridge when a taxi transporting a pregnant lady to the hospital. As the bridge was opening the taxi went into the water. Ben doe in and saved the lady and the taxi driver. My brother was awarded a certificate and a key to the city for his Heroism.

Ben joined the Army and completed basic training at Fort Benning, GA. He served in the Dominican Republic. During his service there his platoon Sgt was wounded and my brother was stabbed in the stomach as he saved his Sgt and transported both to the hospital. Ben received the Valor medal for his actions and was deployed to Berlin, Germany where he guarded the Berlin wall. He met a beautiful German girl named Marianne Shultz whom he later married. His son was born in Germany on January 25, 1968 and with his stepdaughter, Daniella, Ben and his new family returned to his hometown, Satsuma, Alabama. In mid May, Ben was deployed to Vietnam. He was granted a two-week furlough in Hawaii in mid September where his wife and family joined him. When Ben returned to Vietnam he was reassigned to a different unit he was informed his previous unit had been totally wiped out by Vietnamese. I later found out Ben was a member of a special task force called the Mobile Riverines.

On October 25, 1968, he was serving in a rifle company in Kien Hoa Province about 5 miles south of Thuc Giang in South Vietnam. Our family was told by the military that his unit was crossing a stream, and he lost his balance and was caught up by the current. Rescue attempts were made immediately but were unsuccessful. Searches were made downstream on the day of the loss, but they could not locate my brother. Over the next two days, aerial searches were made by helicopter, but he was never found. Ben was reported missing on October 25, 1968. My family received 7 different telegrams and no two were the same as to where and how he disappeared.

My brother was a protective person who wouldn’t allow anyone to go into strange or dangerous places ahead of him. It was reported his unit was on a trail coming around a cliff and when the soldier in front of Ben turned around to say something, Ben wasn’t there. The next report had Ben hand walking a bridge when one of the ropes broke sending him into the Mekong delta with the weight of his equipment and swift current sweeping him under. Another report told of Ben stepping on a minefield and the explosion scattered his body parts everywhere. Another told of Ben walking across the Mekong delta and due to the fact he couldn’t swim the current swept him under. But Ben did know how to swim and received a medal and certificate for his expertise in swimming and diving. Another version tells that while crossing the Mekong delta Ben’s foot got stuck in the mud. When another soldier extended his rifle to Ben so he could grab a hold and be pulled to safety, Ben had slipped and was swept away.

We also received a statement from the Army that in April 1968 a villager was working in a rice field witnessed an American soldier fall off a bridge the body washed ashore some 600 miles West of bridge some villagers found body stripped him of his dog tags and belongings and buried his body. However, Ben was in U.S. in April and joined his family in September. This couldn’t possibly be him. After going to several MIA/POW Rallies, I have been told that my brother’s name appeared on a rescue mission list at a POW camp on December 25, 1968 by three different Veterans. Even though the first rescue mission was a success when they tried to rescue my brother and the other seven POW’s the helicopter was shot down and the rescuers spent almost two weeks in jungle and were finally rescued and returned to their unit.

We have a battle ship USS ALABAMA. Ben’s name is on display with other fallen war Veterans. They have a Vietnam memorial wall as well on the premises. I’ve also visited ‘The Wall’ in Washington; the traveling wall, the city of Satsuma’s memorial wall and recently the city of Saraland built a sidewalk with the names of fallen soldiers engraved on bricks. It is very nice. I cry every time I visit any of these places. I wear my brother’s memorial bracelet faithfully.

I have been searching for anyone who served with my brother to provide the answers to what really happened and hopefully bring our family some closure. The above is what was relayed to us by the U.S. Army. But my family received over 9 different stories as to his locations and how he disappeared.

~ Mary Foster

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