Ben Haymon, World War II Veteran and Birthday Boy is 108 This Year!
Ben Haymon, a WWII veteran, was born November 8, 1909 – the same year that William Howard Taft succeeded Theodore Roosevelt as the 27th President of the United States. He grew up cotton farming, loved to hunt rabbits and squirrels in McKamie, AR in Lafayette County.
“I am really enjoying it,” Haymon said about his birthday celebration, while eating cake and speaking to party goers at his care home, Diamond Lakes Assisted Living, and in the company of his friends and caregivers from Hospice Home Care.
Ben really enjoyed the ‘Treble Makers’, a teenage singing group of girls from Jessieville High School led by Lydia deSambourg, Music Director. The girls and Mrs. deSambourg sang “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” while dressed in sparkling blue 1940’s style dresses. The girls later commented and expressed their happiness with just being able to meet Mr. Haymon!
Holly deSambourg, Ben’s Social Worker from Hospice Home Care also sang “Dream A Little Dream of Me” while dressed in the 1940’s style. Holly said, “It is such an honor and a privilege to care for such a kind and memorable man, and I LOVE hearing his stories!”
At age 31, Haymon decided to join the U.S. Army on April 25, 1941, less than eight months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His unit traveled to Port Moresby, Australia (Capital of Papua New Guinea), and later the New Hebrides Islands, now called Vanuatu, with the 159th Port Company.
Haymon said his first humbling experience was seeing the destroyed USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, as well as the other damage done by the Japanese that fateful December day. “All of us realized then how real the war was,” Haymon said in a news release.
Just before retiring from the military in December 1945, Haymon was set to travel to Germany, but the war in Europe ended and he was honorably discharged. After his retirement from the military, Haymon worked for Weyerhaeser Co. for 32 years. Ben has two sons and two daughters and has been married twice during his lifetime.
Happy Birthday Ben Haymon from all your friends at Hospice Home Care, We Love You!