FLVC logo

Arthur B. Benson and Claude B. Shook Family papers, 1942-1948, Date acquired: 11/28/2017, bulk 1944

 

Summary

Creator:
Benson, Arthur B.
Shook, Claude B.
Extent:
2 folders
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Arthur B. Benson and Claude B. Shook Family papers, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_17_0032.

Background

Scope and content:

This family collection relates to Technician 4th Grade Sergeants Claude B. Shook, 207th Field Artillery Battalion, and Arthur B. Benson, 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion,  who were brother in laws and both served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the European Theater. Arthur B. Benson was killed in action on August 14, 1944. The collection contains letters, photograph negatives, a unit newsletter, ephemera, and diary.

Biographical / historical:

Arthur B. Benson was born on April 16, 1911, in Wisconsin.  He entered service in the U.S. Army on February 28, 1942, and trained as an armored vehicle maintenance technician.  Benson was assigned to the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion which was deployed to the European Theater of Operations and landed on Utah Beach, Normandy, on July 18, 1944.  This tank destroyer battalion was assigned M-18 Hellcat tanks.  Benson was killed in action on August 14, 1944, near St. Lo, France, during a mortar or artillery attack while repairing a disabled tank.  Benson was the brother of Geraldine Benson Shook and the brother in law of Claude B. Shook. Benson is buried in Oakland Seventh-Day Cemetery, Oakland, Jefferson County, Wisconsin.  Letters contained in this collection were written by Benson and by comrades to his family after his death.

Custodial history:

This collection was donated by Richard Shook, son of Claude B. Shook and nephew of Arthur B. Benson. The collection was acquired by the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience on November 28, 2017.

Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open to all researchers.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Arthur B. Benson and Claude B. Shook Family papers, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_17_0032.

Location of this collection:
116 Honors Way
Tallahassee
FL
32306-2047
USA