Greater Love No Man Has

Connie Bennion Baxter of Cumming in Forsyth County, and her family, traveled to Pearl Harbor this past December to honor the memory of her Grandpa's cousin, Mervyn S. Bennion. It's quite widely known that at the age of 54, Captain Bennion was killed while in command of the battleship USS West Virginia during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor 80 years ago.

What's not as well-known is what happened the Saturday night before the attack. Connie shared this special family story: Mervyn and his wife, Louise, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, attended a Saturday evening church meeting in the Oahu Stake. They had planned on spending the night together in a hotel and going to Sunday services the next morning before Mervyn returned to his ship.

But something didn't sit quite right with Mervyn that night, and he told his wife he felt impressed to return to his ship. Louise tried to talk him out of it and stay with her, saying, “You can go back in the morning.”

He told her he knew that for some reason, he needed to be with his men. And so, telling his wife good-bye, he went back to the USS Virginia.

The next morning, December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked, and the battle raged, Captain Bennion was hit by a shrapnel shard from a nearby ship after she was blasted by a bomb. He refused to leave the bridge to receive first aid. Using one arm to pin his abdomen closed, he told his men what to do to keep the ship from sinking. They did as he commanded, and the men on the USS West Virginia did not go down to a watery grave. Captain Bennion died, giving his life to save more than a thousand others.

For his extraordinary courage, Captain Bennion was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by the President of the United States.

His sacrifice was also honored on July 4, 1943, when the destroyer the USS Bennion was named in his honor and christened by his widow, Louise. She had lost her sweetheart, but her faith in forever families was strong. She believed with all her heart that she and their son would be with him in the life hereafter.

To learn more about Captain Bennion's story, watch the 2001 movie, Pearl Harbor, where he is portrayed by actor Peter Firth. The dead, who could be found after the bombing, were finally placed in coffins with American flags draping the tops. Along the row of coffins was the one with Captain Mervyn Bennion’s name. One of his men, portrayed by Cuba Gooding Junior, saluted him for his courage.

Thank you, Captain Bennion, for your service. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13, from the Bible)

Written by: Susan N. Swann