Fifth Marine Division

Special Footage

Iwo Jima

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Edward McPherson Benson
[Pending]

This appears to be footage of Edward M. Benson (ACook) having his leg wound tended to by members of C Company, 5th Medical Battalion, 5th Marine Division in Iwo Jima on February 19th, 1945 (D-Day).

Note: Many soldiers were assigned tasks not associated with their actual ranking. For instance, an Assistant Cook (ACook) or a Field Music First Class (FM1c) may have been utilized as, for example, messengers or firefighters.

There are several indicators that the soldier in this video is, indeed, Edward M. Benson.

1) The video description, title, “United States Marines being treated by 5th Medical Battalion corpsmen in Iwo Jima, Japan during World War II”, and markers in the video indicate that this is footage of the 5th Marine Division AND, according to The Spearhead (page 234), Edward M. Benson was in the 26th Regiment of the 5th Marine Division.

2) The last name on the helmet is clearly Benson AND, according to The Spearhead (page 194), there was only one soldier with the last name of Benson in the 5th Marine Division that was wounded in action (WIA) – Edward M. Benson.

Video sources:
1) http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675059747 @ 00:10
Note: I am, in no way, affiliated with CriticalPast.com

2) https://youtu.be/M6DUtQI7Ey8?t=10s

Research sources:
1) The Spearhead – The World War II History of the 5th Marine Division.
1) FindAGrave Memorial 72595576
2) FindAGrave Memorial 72595442
3) Ancestry.com

The “D” in Edward looks like an “E”, but I believe that this is due to the helmet cover being wrinkled.

This a screenshot from a portion of the previous video.

This screenshot from a portion of the previous footage gives a view of the wounded soldier’s face.

Note: The end of the previous footage shows two sets of soldiers laying on the ground. The soldier closest to the camera in the first set does not have an M1 Carbine on his back as did the soldier assisting Edward M. Benson earlier in the footage. The soldier closest to the camera in the second set does have an M1 Carbine and is next to the wounded soldier from earlier in the footage.