WWII veteran 1st Lieutenant Robert E. Bender was an only child. His mother was hoping he would receive a deferment as an intern with the FBI. Bender had different plans and in 1943 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Bender was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his excellence as a navigator. Bender’s daughter, Noel Mattison, shares the story of her father from her beautiful book Dad’s Letters 1942-1945: The Personal Story of Robert E. Bender’s World War II Experience.
