Benjamin S. Weber

Benjamin S. Weber’s Personal Narrative was derived from information found in public records, military personnel files, and local/state historical association materials. Please note that the Robb Centre never fully closes the book on our servicemembers; as new information becomes available, narratives will be updated to appropriately represent the life story of each veteran.

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Military Honor(s):

Distinguished Service Cross

Citation: The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Benjamin S. Weber, Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action at Fond-de-Vas, France, September 14, 1918. Although severely wounded, Sergeant Weber continued to lead his platoon in an attack on enemy machine-gun nests, through a sweeping artillery and machine-gun fire, until he fell, completely exhausted.

Purple Heart

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Life & Service

  • Birth: 24 September 1894, New York, NY, United States
  • Place of Residence: New York County, NY, United States
  • Race/Ethnicity: Jewish American
  • Death: 21 December 1949 Long Island, NY, United States
  • Branch: Army
  • Military Rank: Sergeant
  • Company: [D]
  • Infantry Regiment: 307th
  • Division: 77th
Personal Narrative
Early Life (Pre-War): Includes general parent information, sibling information, education Toggle Accordion

Benjamin S. Weber was born to Bertha Linz (1870-1917) and Sigmond/Sigmund Weber (1867-1900) on 24 September 1894 in New York City, New York County, New York. The couple had four children (including Benjamin), Abraham Samuel (1889-1946), Rose (1896-1962), and William (1899-1968). Bertha Linz Weber was born in the Bukovina region of the Austrian Empire (now Romania), she immigrated to the U.S. on an unknown date; Sigmund Weber was born in an unknown region of the Austrian Empire, immigrating to the U.S. around 1884-1888. Sigmund Weber worked as a tailor before his death around 1900.

Benjamin Weber was admitted to the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York by his mother on 24 October 1900; Abraham and William Weber lived with their aunt and uncle, Louis and Sarah Steiner, into 1905, Rose Weber lived at an unknown location until moving in with the Steiners in 1915.

Benjamin Weber attended the Hebrew Technical Institute and graduated in May of 1910; he was employed as a mechanic and discharged from the Asylum on 30 May 1910 under the reason of ‘working’. All three Weber children lived with the Steiners in 1915, most likely at 4 E 117th St., New York. Bertha Linz Weber died in 1917.

Service: Includes a summary of transfers, rank change(s), training, enlistment, and discharge locations Toggle Accordion

Weber was drafted and entered service with the U.S. Army on 22 September 1917, he was assigned as a Private to Co. D, 307th Infantry Regiment, 77th Division, AEF. Weber was appointed to Sergeant on 15 November 1917. Sgt Weber and Co. D left New York on 7 April 1918 aboard the U.S. Army Transport Ship Justicia. Sgt Weber participated in the following regions, “Lorraine-Chateau Thierry, Vesle, Argonne, Meuse”. Sgt Weber was “gassed and received several shrapnel wounds while on the Vesle Offensive, Sept. 14 1918, have also been blind for seven days due to being gassed”.

Sgt Weber received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on 14 September 1918 at Fond-de-Vas, France,

“The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Sergeant Benjamin S. Weber (ASN: 1705234), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company D, 307th Infantry Regiment, 77th Division, A.E.F., at Fond-de-Vas, France, 14 September 1918. Although severely wounded, Sergeant Weber continued to lead his platoon in an attack on enemy machine-gun nests, through a sweeping artillery and machine-gun fire, until he fell, completely exhausted.”

Sgt Weber and Co. D left Brest, France on 19 April 1919 aboard the U.S. Army Transport Ship U.S.S. America, arriving in the U.S. on 28 April. He was Honorably Discharged on 9 May. Weber also received the New York Conspicuous Service Cross in 1923 and Purple Heart on an unknown date.

Later Life (Post-War): Includes post-war education, occupation, marriage(s) and/or children, location and date of death Toggle Accordion

Upon his return home, Weber continued to live with the Steiners, working as a mechanic. On 6 June 1920, Weber married Adele Amhowitz (1896-1974) in the Bronx, New York; the couple had three children, Seymour (1922-2006), Betty (1925-2010), and Florence (1930-1997).

In 1923, the family lived at 960 Simpson St., the Bronx, 1925, 1740 66th St., New York, in the 1930s, 5915 21st Ave., Brooklyn, New York- both homes still stand. Weber worked as a real estate agent in the latter part of the decade- in the 1940s, he was associated with the New York State Comptroller’s Office in Albany. By 1949, Weber was senior auditor with the State Department of Audit and Control.

Weber fell ill of an unknown cause and died at the Long Island College Hospital on 21 December 1949, it is unknown where he is buried. Adele Amhowitz Weber lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Betty Weber and Harry Brandt in the 1950s- she died in 1974, outliving her husband by twenty-five years.