Benny was my first love! He was the football, baseball, and basketball jock, the one everyone wanted to be around,to be in his circle of friends. He had a mild "Bad Boy" image, but to me he was perfect! He had the singing voice of an angel. He was my soulmate. I was the preacher's daughter, hands off to all except Benny. He was BJ and I was TJ,he was ~Honey~ and I was ~Sugar~. I loved that name when he spoke it or wrote it. I was on cloud 9...a princess with her prince...a young girl with an older 'man'...friends...sweethearts. Then separated by the call to the Army...that separation sealed a longing for us to be together in love and in life. A senseless war in Vietnam took those dreams away. At the young,tender age of 21, my prince was gone. Benny started his tour in Viet Nam on Apr 11, 1968, and was killed on May 18,1968. My heart was broken! My life was forever changed. When the military chaplain came to school to notify me, I saw him in the hall and I ran across campus to a teacher who knew us both and was retired from the military. He had already been told and knew I was on my way. I begged him to take me to look for Benny...he just couldn't be gone! It was all a terrible mistake! I received BJ's last letter a week after he died. In that letter, he told me he was going to guard "the hill" and knew he would not return alive. Looking back to our last days together before he shipped out, he knew then and tried to tell me, but I didn't want to listen! He told my Dad and his brother to take care of me...he knew I would be devastated. I don't remember much for the next few days...I was in a fog that I kept praying would lift and this would all be a horrible nightmare. I know God does not make mistakes and there was a purpose for taking my BJ so young. I don't pretend to know the reason why, although I asked God many times! Love and memories reside in my heart that can never be taken away. BJ is my Guardian Angel! By God's great grace, and my acceptance of Him into my heart, Benny and I will be together again in a place where there will be no parting, no sadness, no tears.
SP4 Benny Joe Lewis, Atoka, OK on www.VirtualWall.org The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
www.virtualwall.org/dl/LewisBJ01a.htm
Benny was my first love! He was the football, baseball, and basketball jock, the one everyone wanted to be around,to be in his circle of friends. He had a mild "Bad Boy" image, but to me he was perfect! He had the singing voice of an angel. He was my soulmate. I was the preacher's daughter, hands off to all except Benny. He was BJ and I was TJ,he was ~Honey~ and I was ~Sugar~. I loved that name when he spoke it or wrote it. I was on cloud 9...a princess with her prince...a young girl with an older 'man'...friends...sweethearts. Then separated by the call to the Army...that separation sealed a longing for us to be together in love and in life. A senseless war in Vietnam took those dreams away. At the young,tender age of 21, my prince was gone. Benny started his tour in Viet Nam on Apr 11, 1968, and was killed on May 18,1968. My heart was broken! My life was forever changed. When the military chaplain came to school to notify me, I saw him in the hall and I ran across campus to a teacher who knew us both and was retired from the military. He had already been told and knew I was on my way. I begged him to take me to look for Benny...he just couldn't be gone! It was all a terrible mistake! I received BJ's last letter a week after he died. In that letter, he told me he was going to guard "the hill" and knew he would not return alive. Looking back to our last days together before he shipped out, he knew then and tried to tell me, but I didn't want to listen! He told my Dad and his brother to take care of me...he knew I would be devastated. I don't remember much for the next few days...I was in a fog that I kept praying would lift and this would all be a horrible nightmare. I know God does not make mistakes and there was a purpose for taking my BJ so young. I don't pretend to know the reason why, although I asked God many times! Love and memories reside in my heart that can never be taken away. BJ is my Guardian Angel! By God's great grace, and my acceptance of Him into my heart, Benny and I will be together again in a place where there will be no parting, no sadness, no tears.
SP4 Benny Joe Lewis, Atoka, OK on www.VirtualWall.org The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
www.virtualwall.org/dl/LewisBJ01a.htm
Gravesite Details
Killed in the senseless Vietnam War. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
