Army & Navy: The President Makes Good

For 40 minutes the Goon rocked and shook as the Zeros came in close. To Technical Sergeant Arthur P. Benko, turret gunner in the bomber over southern China, it seemed more like 40 seconds. Twice his twin .50s jammed, but he cleared them. By fight’s end, he had knocked down seven Zeros.

Said quiet Sergeant Benko, grey-haired at 32: “I never worked that turret so fast before.” His quick shooting brought his total score to 16 Jap planes, three more than Colonel Bruce Holloway’s, ranking ace of the Fourteenth Air Force. It also made him top gun among all aerial gunners in the A.A.F.

Back in Bisbee, Ariz., Benko’s marksmanship was no surprise. He had always been a “gun nut,” owned eleven weapons, reloaded his own ammunition. Long before he thumbed a machine gun, he was a champion rifle shot. Home-towners recognized his virtuosity: when he enlisted he was president of the Bisbee Rifle Club.