Les Benway

Chief Petty Officer Les F. Benway, USN (Ret.), passed away June 16th, 2026. A dedicated sailor whose career spanned the Cold War era through Vietnam, he served his country with steadfast courage, professionalism, and an uncomplaining sense of duty.

Born on Martha's Vineyard Island, Massachusetts, he enlisted in the United States Navy in 1958 and completed boot camp in San Diego, where he was entrusted early with the responsibility of squad leader. His first sea duty took him to a heavy cruiser deployed to Southeast Asia. On return to California he endured the demanding and hazardous work of a shipyard, decommissioning that heavy cruiser - long, loud, and dirty labor that left its mark, including exposure to shipyard asbestos.

His service brought both sacrifice and reward. While stationed in Hawaii he met and married Mary. He then served aboard a Destroyer Radar Picket Ship on patrol off Alaska's northwest coast - a posting notorious for brutal seas that tested ship and crew alike - before returning to Hawaii to direct ship traffic in and out of Pearl Harbor from the control tower. It was during this tour that his first son, Dwayne, was born; the realities of military life meant duty came before family celebrations, a truth he carried without complaint.

Assignments shifted him and his family across the nation: to Massachusetts where his second son, Ty, was born; then a move to Florida where his wife had to make the move alone with a six week old baby and a one-year old. He served four years aboard a large seagoing ship operating between New England and Cuba and through the Gulf of Mexico. It was at sea on that vessel he learned of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. While on that ship he also served as Master-at-Arms, performing shipboard law-enforcement and shore-patrol duties.

Ready for new challenges, he attended Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) School at Little Creek, Virginia, and later served on a larger fleet tug that took him with icebreakers above the Arctic Circle. Returning south, he navigated his ship through the Cape Cod Canal en route to Norfolk. In Virginia his daughter Leslie was born, and he undertook the long overland family move to his next command in California - another grueling trip across the continent with a sick wife, a six week old baby, a three and four year old.

He was selected to serve in the recommissioning of the battleship New Jersey (BB-62), again facing the industrial rigors and health hazards of recommissioning work. As a leading quartermaster he trained with the full crew and steamed aboard the battleship from the East Coast, through the Panama Canal, and into combat in Vietnam. Off the DMZ, his ship's formidable battery - twenty 5-inch guns and nine 16-inch batteries intended to counter other capital ships - provided naval gunfire support on the gun line. Early in that deployment his ship's stance was clear: unidentified vessels were warned to identify themselves or be engaged. After an arduous tour supporting operations in Vietnam, his ship answered the call to assist the USS Pueblo during its crisis.

He completed two more combat tours in Vietnam aboard a destroyer, earning two additional Navy Achievement Medals with Combat "V" for actions under fire. Having had his fill of continuous sea duty, he transitioned ashore to Recruiting Command. He served as Recruiter in Charge in Salem, Massachusetts, and later in New Hampshire, where his leadership and success led to expanded responsibility supervising 29 recruiters across nine Massachusetts cities - a demanding administrative and personnel management role that he executed with the same rigor he brought to sea duty.

For his final sea tour he served aboard USS Iwo Jima (LPH 2), embarked with nearly two thousand Marines and their combat equipment. While the ship was put into port at Naples, Italy, he carried out one of the Navy's most solemn duties: escorting the remains of a shipmate home and ensuring a proper military funeral. That assignment stayed with him; though his service had included many long, dangerous tours and countless grueling twenty hour days, that escort brought the deepest gratitude from a widow who finally heard "thank you" for what her husband had endured. He often remarked that genuine appreciation was rare, and that quiet acknowledgments from those he helped were among his most valued rewards.

Throughout his career he endured the hardships of military life: constant moves, long separations from family, the strain of raising young children often without his partner at hand, exposure to hazardous conditions, and the heavy responsibilities of command and watchstanding in combat. Yet he never wavered. He served with humility, putting mission and shipmates first, and exemplified the values of honor, courage, and commitment.

Chief Petty Officer Les F. Benway retired after a long and distinguished career in the United States Navy. He is remembered for his steady leadership, his unshakeable work ethic, and his readiness to accept the burdens of service without fanfare. He leaves behind his wife, Mary; his sister Linda, and Brother Bret; sons Dwayne and Ty; daughter Leslie; Grandchildren Ashley, Justin and Rachel; Great-grandchildren Liam, Rosalie, and Harper and many nieces and nephews and extended family and a legacy of devotion to country and to the sailors and Marines he served alongside.

A formal memorial and military honors will be arranged by the family.

A service to celebrate his life will be held 2 pm Monday June 29, 2026 at Brookings-Smith, 133 Center St., Bangor, where relatives and friends are invited to call 1 pm until time of service. A committal will follow at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Bangor.

Condolences to the family may be expressed at BrookingsSmith.com.