William M Bennett
Profile
Age: 35
From: Seymour, Tenn.
Assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, Fort Campbell, Ky.
Incident: Army Sgt. 1st Class William M. Bennett was killed Sept. 12 in Ramadi, Iraq, when his unit executed a raid on enemy forces.
Died: September 12, 2003
Sgt. 1st Class William M. Bennett is remembered by colleagues as a man of contradictions: a fitness buff who enjoyed a good cigar, a challenger of authority who respected decisions he disagreed with.
Master Sgt. Jeff Mason said Bennett came across as cocky when they first met, but he soon learned: “Bill not only talked the talk, he walked the walk.” Bennett spoke his mind, but his loyalty was never in doubt, Mason said.
Bennett, 35, was killed Sept. 12 in a firefight in Ramadi, Iraq. He was a Green Beret stationed at Fort Campbell and lived in nearby Seymour, Tenn., with his wife, Allison, and their son, Seth.
Bennett entered the Army in December 1986. He also served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and Afghanistan.
“Bill honored God, his country,...