Technician Fourth Class (Tec4) Benjamin Joseph Arthur (Buddy) Stoney, United States Army. Service Number: 39530033

Early Life

Benjamin Joseph Arthur (Buddy) Stoney was born on 10 October 1921 in Yankee Hill, Butte County, California. His father, Robert Martell Stoney, born 4 January 1896 in Utah, died 1 October 1965 in St. Helena, Napa County, California, was a Carpenter. He had served in the U.S. Army during World War I. His mother, Zena Geraldine Clark, was born on 7 January 1900 in California and died on 31 October 1934 in California. After Zena died, Robert remarried Cozetta B. Gibson. Benjamin was the second of six sons in the family. He attended Santa Paula High School.

Military

Benjamin Joseph Arthur (Buddy) Stoney registered for the Draft on 16 February 1942 in Ojai, Ventura County, California, and enlisted in the U.S. Army on 4 August 1942 in Los Angeles, California. After basic training and additional follow-on training, he was assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

The 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment was initially formed during World War II at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, in 1942 where it earned its nickname, "Currahees", after the camp's Currahee Mountain. Paratroopers in training ran from Camp Toccoa up Currahee Mountain and back with the shout "three miles up, three miles down!” The Cherokee word, which translates to "Stand Alone", also became the unit's motto. Members of the unit wear the spade (♠) symbol on the helmet outer and the Screaming Eagle patch (indicating membership in the 101st Airborne Division) on the left sleeve. Its first commanding officer was Colonel Robert F. Sink, and the 506th was sometimes referred to as the "Five-Oh-Sink". On 10 June 1943, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment officially became part of the 101st Airborne Division, commanded by Major General William Lee, the "father of the U.S. Army Airborne".

Sink read in Reader's Digest about a Japanese Army unit that held the world record for marching. Sink believed his men could do better, so he marched the regiment from Camp Toccoa to Atlanta: 137 miles (220 km) in 75 hours and 15 minutes, including 33.5 hours of actual marching. Only 12 of the 2nd Battalion's 556 enlisted men failed to complete the march. All 30 officers completed it, including 2nd Battalion commander Major Robert Strayer. Newspapers covered the march; many civilians turned out to cheer the men as they neared Five Points. In Atlanta, they boarded trains for Airborne School in Fort Benning, Georgia.

The 506th would participate in three major battles during the war: D-day landings, Operation Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge.

Like almost all paratrooper units, the 506th was widely scattered during the Mission Albany night drop on the morning of D-Day. The most famous action for the 506th on D-Day was the Brécourt Manor Assault led by 1st Lieutenant Richard Winters. Later, they fought in the battle for Carentan.

The unit had been promised that they would be in battle for just three days, but the 506th did not return to England for 33 days. Of about 2,000 men who jumped into France, 231 were killed in action, 183 were missing or POWs and 569 were wounded – about 50% casualties for the Normandy campaign.

Death and Burial

Benjamin Joseph Arthur (Buddy) Stoney was Killed in Action on 6 June 1944 in Normandy, France during the D-Day invasion. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal. He was buried at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France, Plot: H, Row: 10, Grave: 39.

Sources

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56650456/benjamin-arthur_joseph-stoney

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=342028

https://www.fold3.com/page/639666256/benjamin-j-stoney/facts

https://www.fold3.com/page/529916726/benjamin-j-stoney/facts

https://www.fold3.com/page/91075406/benjamin-j-stoney/facts

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78147016/ventura-county-star-free-press/

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/43995_10_00049-01611?usePUB=true&_phsrc=5ru857247&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=18804410

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8939&h=1570563&tid=&pid=&queryId=ab425db79d581d62e4a46c7eb2bd1334&usePUB=true#?_phcmd=u('https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name%3Dbenjamin_stoney%26event%3D_california-usa_7%26birth%3D1921%26birth_x%3D0%26event_x%3D_1-0%26name_x%3D1_1%26_phtarg%3D5ru857247%26queryId%3Dab425db79d581d62e4a46c7eb2bd1334%26successSource%3DSearch%26successSource%3DSearch%26queryId%3Dab425db79d581d62e4a46c7eb2bd1334','successSource')

https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/170991116/person/262228148449/media/42861_647350_0546-00578?_phsrc=5ru1908062&_phstart=successSource

This story was written by Robert J. “Red” Mulvanny, U.S. Navy (Retired) and is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story. If you noticed anything missing in this profile, you may contact the author. Click on the author’s name located at the bottom of the story page next to the words “added by.”"