Frank James BENNINO

CEMTERY TEMPORARY of St Mère Église #2 N°3586 

Story of Cemetery Temporary 

Map of Normandy American Cemetery

Family Bonds
Frank James Bennino was born on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1923, in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, to Mary and Nunzio Bennino. He had a close bond to his older brother, Horace, and his two younger sisters, Alice and Edith. He was the more reserved sibling in the family, but his sister remembered him as thoughtful and caring. His home was lively and loving with ten people, including his grandmother, living there.
Love of Music
Growing up in his musically-oriented family, Frank Bennino showed a love for singing and dancing. He also enjoyed sports and in the winter time he ice skated on the neighborhood pond.
Working After High School
After graduating from Wethersfield High School in 1941, he worked at the Hartford Machine Screw Company as a cargo checker for exported items.
On March 2, 1943, Bennino was drafted into the U.S. Army. He followed his brother, drafted four months earlier. He was proud to serve his country just like his own father, an immigrant from Italy, who had served America in World War I.

Military Experience
Driving for a Chaplain
Bennino served as a technician in the ordnance department. But during the war he became close friends with a chaplain from Chicago named Frannie who eventually asked Frank to become his driver.
Right before the Normandy invasion Frank Bennino met with his brother Horace one more time before they sailed to Normandy with different units.
The Car Accident
On August 6, 1944, Bennino was driving the chaplain in Le Ham, France, when his jeep collided with a U.S. tank. Though the chaplain survived, Bennino was killed instantly, becoming the second Rocky Hill boy to lose his life in World War II. He never learned that the first fallen soldier from Rocky Hill, killed only six weeks earlier, was his own brother, Horace.

Frank's mother never quite recovered from the loss of both her sons. Nearly 70 years later, Frank's sister, Edith, still cried when she recalled her brothers and wondered what her family would be like if her brothers survived. Just like his sister, I wondered a lot during this project about the many what-if's.
Both Frank and Horace Bennino are buried at Normandy American Cemetery in France.

Horace Julius BENNINO

Source : JP Pellouais

Company M

315^th Infantry Division

Source : Frogman

Plan du Normandy American Cemetery

Silver Star

Purple Heart

World War II Victory Medal 

Combat Infantryman Badge