Chief Master Sergeant (Retired) Alcide (Bull)
Sylvio Benini, 93 years young,
died April 16, 2015, under hospice care in the Hampton
Veterans Administration Hospital.
Alcide joined
the
Army on May 6, 1940, arrived
in the Philippines June 1940, and was captured
April 7, 1942. He survived
the Bataan Death March, Japanese Death
Ships and the
Japanese POW camps, serving
three years and four months, until
the end of World War II.
He returned to the U.S.
on October 15, 1945. After his release he served with the 82nd
Airborne Division Pathfinder platoon. During his assignment
to the Pathfinder Platoon, Benini was fully trained as a Master Parachutist. In January 1953
he left
the Army and enlisted
in the United States Air Force
to
establish the Air Force Pathfinders later renamed
Combat Controllers. He achieved
the rank of Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt) and was
in the running for the first
CMSgt of the Air Force.
Named in
his honor is the Benini Heritage
Center and Museum located at the
Combat Control School at Pope Field, N.C. He was inducted into the inaugural class of
the Combat Control Association’s Hall of Fame in October 2013.
Alcide is survived by his
sister Anna Thomas; brother Frank
Benini; and his children, Michael and
Christopher Benini, Jane Ables, Lisa
and Lori Benini, grandchildren Brittany and Kaylee Ables, Daniel and Isabella Benini.
He was preceded
in death by his father Luigi, mother Elvira,
sister Ancilla and brother Adriano.
He was a true hero to both his
nation and his family and will
be truly missed.
Rather than flowers, donations may be made to the
Combat Control School Heritage Foundation
(CCSHF) or any veteran organization of
your choice.
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