I enjoyed the research that I put into this project much more than I thought I would. At first, I thought it was going to be any other project that I have done in the past, but I quickly changed my mind. I quickly got very immersed into the research I was doing and wanted to know everything about the life of Raymond Benjamin. Looking at the census records and other documents on Ancestry.com helped me piece together his life, but also made me truly realize his sacrifice. It was heartbreaking to see his name disappear from the 1950's census, but the names of his parents and siblings stayed. His parents signatures on death certificates and other documents after his death made it possible for me to understand a little bit of what his family had to go through after the death of their son. I wished I would have been able to fins a picture of Raymond, but was unable to.

If I could talk to Raymond Benjamin, I would thank him for his willingness to sacrifice himself. He was very young and his life could have gone so much further. He was never able to marry or make a life for himself by building a new family and working. I wish he was able to experience those things before his death. I hope that this website sheds more light on the sacrifices of Raymond Benjamin. A man like him should not be forgotten by the people who he desperately fought to protect and save.

My most important source was Ancestry.com because I was able to learn a lot about the family and see many of the death documents. I couldn't find much about my soldier on any other source, so if I didn't have this source, I wouldn't have much information on Raymond Benjamin. I used a lot of different sources that were all helpful in some way, but none contributed nearly as much as Ancestry.com.  This project has defined "gratitude" for me. I thought I was able to understand the sacrifices that these soldiers gave. I didn't fully understand until I saw the legal documents that included the names of the family members and watch Raymond's name disappear. I have a new sense of gratitude to these soldiers and the soldier that still serve.