Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael A. Benson

Died August 10, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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40, of Winona, Minn.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 314th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 78th Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died Aug. 10 at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., of injuries sustained Aug. 2 when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device struck his convoy in Baghdad.

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Soldier dies from injuries sustained in Iraq

Associated Press

During his two decades in the Army, Michael A. Benson would often come home and tell stories about traveling all over the world. Few of those locations were vacations.

“He used to rattle off a long list of names of places and then we would realize those were all places where bad things were happening,” said his mother, Norma Benson.

Benson, 40, of Winona, Minn., died Aug. 10 at a Maryland hospital of injuries he sustained Aug. 2 in Baghdad when a bomb struck his convoy. He was based at Fort Drum.

Benson graduated high school in 1983 and joined the Army two years later, hoping to make a career out of it. He earned a host of decorations, including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

Over his Army career, Benson mastered the intricacies of infantry weapons, the life of a paratrooper and he served for years as an Army recruiter.

His ex-wife, Robyn Benson, said Michael was “super smart” and routinely aced any exam the military required him to take. He also liked to cook and do creative writing.

“There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do,” she said.

He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth.