Robert James Benninger was born on January 26, 1923, in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Charles Curtis Benninger and Jane F Benninger. He enlisted in the service in June 1942.

He served in the 369th Bomber Squadron, 306th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a First Lieutenant and a navigator of B17G (#42-31499) during World War II. On February 8, 1944, after completing a bombing mission over Frankfurt, Germany, B-17G aka Susan Ruth was shot down by German ME-109. Benninger successfully bailed out of his burning aircraft and was hidden by local Belgian resistance fighters and became a Prisoner of War.

While waiting for arrangements for Benninger and other downed US airmen to escape back to England, they were betrayed by collaborators and captured by German forces. After being interrogated, Benninger and seven other captured airmen were taken to nearby woods then shot, and murdered by their guards on April 22, 1944, in Charleroi, Belgium. He is now buried in the Winchester National Cemetery, Winchester, Winchester City, Virginia, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com