Neto's Tucson by Ernesto Portillo Jr. : Keeping kids in school is vet's aim

"I was scared every time I flew a mission," said Bennett, who was a strapping 22-year-old Iowa plowboy when he joined the Army Air Forces.

Animated and at times comical, Bennett, now 88, spoke passionately about flying in a B-17 bomber.

But when I got him to talk about something else he's equally passionate about — helping good students stay in school — his voice broke a bit and tears glistened in his eyes.

"I've been extremely emotional about these little kids," he said.

The kids are not his biological children. They are the several hundred South Side students who have received small but significant academic scholarships through the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association.

"I'm proud of that," said Bennett, the father of four and grandfather of five.

We sat in a booth at a South Side McDonald's where he goes every morning for coffee and camaraderie. Stitched to his blue cap in orange letters are the words "Squawkin' Chicken." It's the moniker given to his WWII plane.

Bennett came to Tucson from the Los Angeles area with his wife, Charlotte, in 1985. He was familiar with the desert having trained in Marana, Douglas and Phoenix.

They settled on the South Side, near South Sixth Avenue and Drexel Road. Bennett started attending meetings of the Sunnyside association.

But in the ensuing years something gnawed at Bennett. There was little acknowledgement of scholastic achievements, and academic opportunities were few and far between for Sunnyside-area students.

Though athletes received accolades, the scholars did not, he said critically. The imbalance of priorities upset him.

About 1993, Bennett suggested to the neighborhood association the creation of an academic scholarship fund.

Bennett himself reached only the ninth grade and left school to furrow the fields with Tom and Jerry, two mules.

The All-American Student Awards program was his idea, but it was the association's Manny Herrera Jr. and his wife, Josie Herrera, who put it together, he said.

He is humble about his role.

Bennett, in his mid-70s at the time, rode his bike around the neighborhoods collecting aluminum cans, said Yolanda Herrera, who along with her parents, Manny and Josie, have long been the driving forces behind the association.

In 2001, a plaque honoring Bennett was placed on a wall at Mission Manor Elementary School, and Gov. Janet Napolitano honored him for his volunteerism in 2004. Bennett also volunteered at the Pima Air & Space Museum.

Since the scholarships' inception, about 600 students have been honored during the association's annual recognition dinners, Herrera said.

Magdalena Barajas was in fifth grade at Los Amigos Elementary School and was part of the first group of students who were recognized.

None of the students in her group received an "educational encouragement" award because the group had no money at the time, but the recognition alone was priceless.

It represented acceptance to her immigrant parents, who accompanied their daughter on a city bus to the awards ceremony. The recognition kept her motivated in school and involved in her neighborhood, Barajas said.

"Look at all these adults who told me they were proud of me," she said, recalling her thought in 1993. Today, Barajas, 24, works on intergovernmental relations in the Tucson City Manager's Office and serves on the Sunnyside Unified School District's Governing Board.

Bennett is modest about his role. He is also modest about life's obstacles that could have sidelined him.

In 1993, his wife died of breast cancer. Four years ago, his home burned to the ground, destroying much of his war memorabilia and archives of his air unit, the 545th Squadron of the 384th Bomb Group.

Even today, he is dealing with the pain of his seriously ailing daughter-in-law.

Though age slowed down his participation with the neighborhood association, he remains faithful to his daily morning visits at McDonald's at South 12th Avenue and West Valencia Road.

For more than 20 years, Bennett and friends have enjoyed one another's humor and everyday stories.

"I never heard him say anything bad about anybody," said Rosa Castro, whose late father was one of the founding members of the morning kaffeeklatsch.

But it's the students whom Bennett cherishes. They remain a constant presence in his heart.

"When you see the glow on their faces and the pride on their family's faces, it's a feeling you can't imagine."

AT A GLANCE

The Sunnyside Neighborhood Association's All-American Student Award program has given out about $15,000 to students in the Sunnyside Unified School District.

Two students in each grade at the district's 22 schools are recognized. Two graduating seniors from the two high schools and alternative school are given $400 "educational encouragement" awards at the association's banquet, held the first Friday in May.

The Sunnyside Neighborhood Association has a 501(3)(c) non-profit status. Donations to the All-American Student Awards can be made to the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association, P.O. Box 13044, Tucson, 85732-3044.

For more information contact Yolanda Herrera at 991-3307.