County of memorial: Crawford County
Location of memorial: S. Ozark St. & E. Prairie St., courthouse lawn, within the Vietnam Memorial, Girard
Memorial erected by: Class of G.H.S. - 1966
Date memorial erected: April 15, 1995
Memorial text:
In memory of
STEVEN H.
BENNEFELD
Class of G.H.S. - 1966
Official details:
"Steven Henry Bennefeld
Private First Class
G CO, 2ND BN, 9TH MARINES, 3RD MARDIV
United States Marine Corps
24 December 1947 - 29 July 1967
Girard, Kansas
Panel 24E Line 015
"In late July 1967, the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, undertook a battalion-sized reconnaissance in force into the Demilitarized Zone dividing North and South Vietnam. The Marines' target was a North Vietnamese Army division which had set up housekeeping within and immediately south of the DMZ - and on 29 July the Marines found the enemy at Thon Cam Son, some 5 kilometers northwest of Con Thien.
"The resulting fight inflicted hundreds of casualties on the NVA, but not without cost: 31 Marines died in the fighting:
C Co, 3rd Antitank Bn - 3 dead
C Co, 3rd Eng Bn - 3 dead
E Co, 2nd Bn, 9th Marines - 9 dead
F Co, 2nd Bn, 9th Marines - 6 dead
G Co, 2nd Bn, 9th Marines - 5 dead
H Co, 2nd Bn, 9th Marines - 2 dead
H&S Co, 2nd Bn, 9th Marines - 3 dead
"Pfc Bennefeld was with Golf 2/9. Other members of the company saw PFC Bennefeld stand upright in the face of heavy enemy gunfire in order to better take the attack to the enemy. According to these witnesses, Bennefeld was brought down by small arms fire, apparently hit in the upper torso. His unit was forced to withdraw until reinforcements arrived. When the Marines cleared the battlefield, Steven Bennefeld was not found.
PFC Bennefeld's remains have never been found."
~ The Virtual Wall