SFC Leonard Benedetto

Honor, duty, loyalty are just a few words that come to mind when I think about Lenny Benedetto.  Full disclosure Lenny is my Dad, so you can definitely say I'm biased but that doesn't make it not true. In fact, I think if you met anyone who knows my Dad they would agree. My Dad lives and breathes service. Service to this country, service to his community, state, and of course his family and friends. 

These values, which he keeps so dear to his heart, come from his time in the Army and Army National Guard.  Lenny has spent most of his life in the Military, it started back in 1956 when he was 18 years old. You can say that the Army was the vehicle that my dad used to do his part. I bet you're wondering, what was his career path, being in for that long. Well, the answer is many!  He spent his last 17 years as a recruiter but he also served as a Mess Sergeant, Medic, Sergeant of the Guard just to name a few. The next obvious question was; what he was most proud of doing in all those years. Without hesitation, he said being a missile man during the Cold War/Cuban Missile Crisis.

Lenny was part of a small group of combat-ready crews who manned missiles in the event of an attack on our homeland. His exact title was TTR Operator or Target Tracking Operator. The program itself would calculate the azimuth or direction, elevation, and range of a missile and from there take those coordinates to a computer which from there would tell the Nike AJAX where to go. Before I can even ask, he says "Chris, I joined up because I felt a sense of responsibility to defend my country, as my Dad did. My Grandfather Anthony was a WW2 veteran.  He volunteered for service and also felt that same sense of responsibility to his country. Anthony wound up in the Army, to my understanding he was a combat engineer who supported the infantry over in Europe. You can say being in the military is part of our family’s legacy as many of our uncles and cousins have taken that same oath.    Myself, my Dad was never able to get me to join...I was too much of a stunad back then. I will say though, it's one of my biggest regrets. 

Thank you for your service Dad and everyone who has sacrificed so much for this great country.