Everett Melvin “Mel” Bens was born Apr. 8, 1920 to Paul and Mable Bens. He died Mar. 10, 2008 and is buried in Clovis Cemetery, Clovis, CA.
Lt. Bens served in in World War II with the U.S. Navy. He postponed his studies at Iowa State University to attend Flight School. After 4 years of service as a naval officer, he returned to Ames. In 1955 he started a 28 year career with the Naval Weapons Center as an Analytical Chemist in China Lake, CA where much of his work was classified “top secret”. He holds 9 patents in the Library of Congress.
Source: ancestry.com
