The Bennion Family Monument in Rush Valley is Fit Again

by John Bennion

On May 13, 2023, Mark Bennion and I worked on repairing the family monument in Bennion Canyon, Rush Valley.  Mark provided the skilled masonry and cement labor, and I did the unskilled grunt work. Mark and I are first cousins and descendants of John Bennion and Esther Anne Birch, Israel and Jeanette, Glynn and Lucile, and respectively George and Joye and Colin and Sergene.

Mark on the left; John on the right.

We removed loose stones and reseated them with new grout. The top stone was also loose, so we reseated it. Then we poured new cement around the base, shoring it up. We plan to contour the ground above the monument so spring runoff will not erode under the monument and to build a fence to keep cattle from rubbing against the stones. It should last another ninety years.

The monument was dedicated as part of a Bennion family reunion in Vernon, Utah, held on July 24, 1933. After speeches, lunch, and sporting activities in the Vernon Ward meeting house, the group drove south to the mouth of Bennion Canyon, where Israel Bennion dedicated the monument.  

Left to right: Israel Bennion, Elizabeth Harker Bennion, Emma Bennion Linsay, Rebecca Ann Bennion Sharp. In the background can be seen David Bennion.

To read a brochure about the reunion and dedication see the Bennion Family Association website (bennion.org). On the landing page, click on “Archives” and then “Places.”

The owner of the property where the monument stands, Jim Ekker, has been generous to work with us. He put in a gate so people can easily get access to the monument. On the Bennion website is a Google map that can guide those interested in visiting the monument and other Bennion family sites in the south end of Rush Valley.  On the landing page, click on “Archives” and then “Places.”

Family History: Remembering Mervyn S. Bennion and the USS Bennion

By Richard and John E. Bennion, (twins and first cousins once removed from Mervyn S. Bennion)

While on summer vacation in Southern California in the early 1960’s, we procured a model kit from a local hobby store and assembled a replica of the USS Bennion DD62, a destroyer named after Mervyn Sharp Bennion, who was captain of the USS West Virginia and recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Model kit like the one made by Richard and John Bennion.

When we were pre-teenagers in the late 1950’s, we had started to learn about World War II and its impact on our family. Our father, Donald Clark Bennion, was drafted into the US Army in 1942 but was somewhat miraculously discharged a few months later so that he could go work for US Steel in the Los Angeles area. His brother (our uncle) Herald Clark Bennion, served in the US Navy and was killed in the Pacific theater at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, in 1943. Our father felt that perhaps he was partly responsible for his brother Herald’s death, that Herald died instead of him. As a result, our father helped support his widow financially for several years after the war, and we remember meeting her. At evening family prayer, we always mentioned Aunt Marjorie (Herald's widow). She died in 1988, and this year we visited the SLC Cemetery and found her grave. Interestingly, next to her grave is a gravestone memorial for Herald (even though his remains were never found and he is listed on Family Search as "buried at sea."  

As we were learning these stories about our father and uncle, we also learned about Capt. Mervyn S. Bennion, commander of the battleship USS West Virginia, who was killed at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Mervyn was our father’s first cousin—same grandfather, different grandmother in a plural marriage.

Because we received the model and put it together while we were in elementary school, we didn’t appreciate the full context of the sacrifice given by those who died in World War II. However, we were very impressed by the model and put it together carefully. We were very proud to have a ship named after our relative. Through the years we have learned about Mervyn’s heroism—his abdomen was ripped open by a piece of shrapnel from a bomb explosion on the nearby USS Tennessee, but he refused treatment. He used one arm to hold his intestines inside as much as possible, and continued to effectively command the ship for the next four hours until he died. The USS West Virginia was the only ship that was battle-ready and shot down more Japanese planes than any other ship in Pearl Harbor, thanks to Mervyn’s leadership while mortally wounded. We proudly displayed the model for many years at our vacation home on Balboa Island and repeated his story to any of our friends willing to listen. We would love to have the model and put it together again.

The USS Bennion was a Fletcher Class Destroyer. It was launched on 4 July 1943 at Boston Navy Yard and christened by Captain Bennion's widow, Annie Louise Clark Bennion, daughter of J. Ruben Clark, Jr. The USS Bennion was commissioned the following December, and was involved in several battles in the Pacific Theater of WWII.  Most notably, the Bennion received a Presidential Citation and 8 Battle Stars for her outstanding performance in the Battle of Suriago Strait where she assisted in the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamashiro.

USS Bennion DD62, a Fletcher Class Destroyer named after Mervyn Sharp Bennion. It was launched on 4 July 1943.

The Presidential Unit Citation, awarded by James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, reads,

For extraordinary heroism in action as a Fighter Direction ship on Radar Picket duty during the Okinawa Campaign, April 1, to June 1, 1945. A natural and frequent target of the heavy Japanese aerial attack while occupying advanced and isolated stations, the U.S.S. BENNION defeated all efforts of enemy Kamikaze and dive-bombing planes to destroy her. Constantly vigilant and ready for battle day and night, she sent out early air warnings, provided fighter direction and, with her own fierce gun fire downed thirteen hostile planes, shared the destruction of others and routed many more; and she rendered valiant service in preventing the Japanese from striking in force the Naval Forces off the Okinawa Beachhead. A valiant fighting ship, the BENNION, her officers and her men withstood the stress and perils of vital Radar Picket duty, achieving a gallant combat record which attests the teamwork, courage and skill of her entire company and enhances the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service. 

The Bennion returned to Puget Sound Navy Yard on 27 October 1945 and went out of commission in reserve at Long Beach, Calif., 20 June 1946.

A few years ago we had a family reunion and we all wore T-shirts commemorating the USS Bennion. Over the years, each of us has visited Pearl Harbor and heard the story of Mervyn’s heroism.  We have also visited his grave in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. We were, and still are, proud to be his relatives. 

Richard Bennion wearing the T-shirt designed for a family reunion.

(For more information about Mervyn S. Bennion, go to his name in this website: Archives/People/Mervyn S. Bennion.)