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“He was a live wire,” said Sgt. Matthew Martinez of Poulsbo, who served with Bennett in Iraq two years ago and enjoyed watching him draw laughs from fellow soldiers on a desert base there.
Martinez was among hundreds of people who gathered Tuesday to remember Bennett at Life Center in Tacoma, Bennett’s hometown.
The audience was just as likely to laugh as to cry.
Bennett, 24, was killed Aug. 6 on a Special Operations mission in Afghanistan with 29 other American service members when a Taliban rocket downed their CH-47 Chinook helicopter.
In tribute to Bennett, three Chinooks flew in formation over central Tacoma at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.
He died in one of the deadliest attacks against allied forces since the Afghan war began a decade ago.
His fellow soldiers say Bennett wouldn’t have given up his seat even if he knew the outcome of his last flight.
“When I got the call, I never felt so much pain,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kirk Kuykendall, a mentor to Bennett in their Kansas-based Army Reserve unit. “He would not have traded places with anyone on 6 August.”
Bennett is to be buried next week at Arlington National Cemetery. In place of his casket, his family Tuesday marked his loss with a fallen soldier’s cross – an Army helmet, a rifle and boots. A small replica of a Chinook helicopter was placed next to the memorial.
Bennett’s mother says she’s still coming to grips with his death. Kim Cali Robertson of Tacoma flew to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to meet her son’s remains. She also visited Kansas to attend an Army memorial for him.
“It’s just been a merry-go-round,” she said. “I don’t think it’s going to be real until there’s a coffin at the funeral in Arlington.”
She and other family members smiled as they shared tales of a young Bennett tagging along after his uncle or monkeying around on scaffolding while his grandfather tried to fix a house. He went on to attend Foss and Curtis high schools before joining the Army.
“Alex was born on Oct. 31, Halloween,” said his grandfather, Donald Bennett. “That should have given us a clue what he was going to be like. He treated every day like Halloween.”
Others remembered his professionalism as much as his playfulness.
Lt. Col. Douglas Bennett of San Antonio knew his son was thriving in his job as a helicopter crewman when they talked about missions the younger Bennett flew on his first deployment.
Alexander Bennett flew with Navy SEALs and other Special Ops service members. He wanted his dad, an Army aviation pilot, to know about the missions.
“He was kind of full of bravado – how young men are – he was good at his job,” Douglas Bennett said.
He said he didn’t steer his son to a career in Army aviation; the young man found that love on his own.
He could have stayed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord when he returned from his 2009 deployment to Iraq with the 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment. Instead he followed Kuykendall to the Kansas unit, where he knew he’d fly more and get the chance to deploy.
“It was a no-brainer to him,” Lt. Col. Bennett said.
Kuykendall met Alexander Bennett on their Iraq tour and remembered him for his smile. Bennett often spent time at the Kuykendall house in Kansas, playing games or eating home-cooked meals.
On most their recent deployment together, Kuykendall saw that Bennett was becoming a leader, motivating younger soldiers to keep up their spirits as they faced challenging missions.
“Alex was a warrior and a patriot who died a hero,” Kuykendall said. “There can be no greater honor.”
Martinez stayed with the Washington-based aviation unit after their Iraq deployment. He said he regretted not telling Bennett how much he appreciated the young soldier.
“Alex was the gutsiest soldier I have ever met,” Martinez said. “He, with his youthful pranksterism, was always on the verge of getting in trouble. With all the things you go through when you’re on a deployment, he kept me going when he didn’t even know I was watching him.
“I’ll spend the rest of my career as a Chinook backseater trying to live up to him.”
