Isham George Benton |

| World War II, 1939-1946
Army
Company B, 365th Infantry Division, 92nd Division
Italy; Germany
Technician Five
Yes
Indianapolis, IN
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Isham Benton had plans to be a doctor but his studies were interrupted when he was drafted in 1942. At Camp Wheeler, Georgia, he studied hard to be admitted to Officer Candidate School, but racial quotas blocked his way. Assigned to take courses at West Virginia State and Indiana University, he was again thwarted with a transfer to the infantry as a rifleman. He did enjoy the climate at Ft. Huachuca and the absence of the racial tension he felt in Georgia. When his unit shipped out to Italy, a racist officer would not let them disembark in Naples, announcing there were no black women ashore. A point man on patrol, Benton was captured by German troops in January 1945. He was treated more kindly by his captors than he had by many of his white officers, though he suspected at times the enemy was trying to win his affections.
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