Ben Huckins

"One gift, above all others God gives to us to treasure one that knows no time, no place and one gold cannot measure. The precious, poignant, tender gift of memory that will keep our dear ones ever in our hearts although God gives them sleep. It brings back long-remembered things a song, a word, a smile and our world's a better place because we had them for awhile!"

Jessie Home Fairweather

Ben Huckins was born April 22, 1921 in Des Moines, Iowa. His father died when he was only seven and he was raised by his mother. He graduated with honors from East High School, then he completed business school just as World War II was breaking out.

Ben joined the Army Infantry, then volunteered for the Army Air Corp. During his training as a bombardier/navigator, in San Antonio, Texas, he married Lorene Appenzeller. Soon after he was sent overseas with his B-24 crew, first to North Africa then to Italy.

Even though Ben had enough points to come home, he volunteered for one more mission. On June 13, 1944 while on a bombing run his plane was shot down over Munich Germany. Before jumping out he helped a wounded crew member with his parachute making sure that he got out safely.

"People were shooting at us as we parachuted to the ground", recalled Ben. He and his copilot landed near each other. The two men hid by day and walked by night, trying to escape to Switzerland. On the sixth day, they were incredibly tired and hungry. They decided to try and get food from a farmhouse. With some hesitation, the old German couple in the house fed them. It wasn't long before a squad of German soldiers broke into the kitchen. The officer in charge in perfect English said, "go ahead and finish your breakfast."

Ben spent eleven months as a prisoner of war, missing his first wedding anniversary and the birth of his first daughter. For three days, he was forced to march in near zero degree weather when the Germans moved the whole camp from Stalag Luft III to a new camp at Stalag Luft VII. This particular camp is just 10 miles from the infamous "Dachau" prison. During the march anyone who dropped out of line was shot. Three months later General George Patton's Third Army liberated the camp. Shortly after the liberation Ben met General Patton and was told he would be back home soon. At this time Ben weighed less than 120 lbs.

After coming home from Europe and being honorably discharged, he taught school for three years at Capital City Commercial College in Des Moines. He attended Drake University before joining Westinghouse Electric Company where he stayed for thirty-five years. Criss-crossing America, Ben was promoted many times and retired as a Regional Manager. He and Lorene had three children, Bettelu, Ben Jr., and Bonnie. Together they had ten grandchildren. Ben delighted in telling people he had four and a half dozen grandchildren.

Ben served in numerous positions in various churches across the country which included a lot of volunteering and public speaking. He was an active member of the North Georgia Prisoner of War club and served as the State Commander. He organized the first Patriotic church service at Kennesaw United Methodist Church. He was respected and loved by many. Ben passed away on December 18, 1994 at Veterans Hospital in Decatur, Georgia. Cars were lined bumper to bumper for over a mile in his funeral procession.