A pair of local veterans received due recognition Thursday when Sen.
Patty Murray presented them with military decorations during a ceremony
at the Jackson Federal Building in Seattle.
Sgt. Kurtis Bennett, formerly of Bellevue, received the
Purple Heart for wounds sustained during his second tour with a Stryker
regiment in Iraq nearly two years ago.
Maj. David Dempster, of Beaux Arts, received the
Distinguished Flying Cross for helping his nearly unconscious pilot
guide their reconnaissance aircraft to safety during a mission over
North Vietnam in 1968.
Bennett’s Purple Heart was a bit long in coming, but at
least he was there to receive it.
His brother, Staff Sgt. Lester Kinney, wasn’t so
fortunate. He earned the award posthumously after an improvised
explosive device (IED) claimed his life in Iraq nearly six years ago.
“This is kind of a connection between me and him,” Bennett
said. “I think he’d be proud of me.”
Two siblings with the same award, except one can smile at
his sons inspecting the medal on his live and beating chest.
Bennett now wears a silver memorial bracelet that his
brother’s platoon gave him following Kinney’s death.
“I’ve never taken it off,” he said. “It goes everywhere
with me.”
Bennett and Dempster earned their awards in dire
circumstances.
Dempster, an Air Force navigator, was completing a lengthy
reconnaissance mission during his “year’s paid vacation in Vietnam”
when his pilot began drifting out of consciousness at 70,000 feet.
“I noticed some of his checklist responses just weren’t
crisp or normal any more,” Dempster said. “Finally he said something
bizarre, and the thunderbolt hit me that he was (deprived of oxygen).”
The aircraft could have lost control, but Dempster talked
his dazed pilot through a descent procedure that brought the plane to a
safer altitude where the pilot could regain awareness.
“He was so good and so well-trained that he could have
reached those controls asleep with his eyes closed,” Dempster said.
Dempster kept quiet about the incident to protect the
pilot’s reputation, but his comrades brought it out 40 years later to
recommend him for the Distinguished Flying Cross.
As for Bennett, he was on a routine patrol in Iraq when an
IED detonated beneath his Stryker vehicle, sending shrapnel into his
left leg and both hands. All told, six soldiers were wounded in the
explosion, and four required medical evacuations.
Bennett’s Purple Heart came months later than the other
soldiers who were wounded in that incident. His injuries were less
devastating, and it wasn’t immediately obvious that they warranted an
award.
“Other than my leg, I was able to pull most of my shrapnel
out,” he said. “Was the award long overdue? No. I think it was just a
matter of due process.”
Bennett is still active with the military, serving as a
mechanic with the Army National Guard. He is not expected to return to
combat duty.
Dempster retired from the Air Force after 27 years of
service navigating bombers, reconnaissance planes, and gunships. He
earned four Distinguished Flying Cross awards during his career.
– Bellevue Reporter
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