Benjamin Charles Steele was born in Roundup, Montana, in 1917, the son of ranchers. Life on the ranch was difficult but there were good times, too. Ben enjoyed hunting and fishing with his father, but didnt like going to school very much. He would rather be riding his horse. Often, he would raise his hand for permission to go to the bathroom an outhouse. Once he was outside, he would saddle up his horse and head home. This wasnt very popular with either his mom or the teacher. The stock market crash in 1929 coupled with a severe drought in the early 30s, meant financial hardships for the Steele family. Unable to make enough money on the ranch or to find another job, Bens father set up a still in the mountains and began to bootleg whiskey. The money from that operation kept the family going for about three years. After his father was arrested for bootlegging and was sent to jail, Ben and his mother kept the operation going from their house. Ben graduated from high school in 1939, and in 1940 joined the Army Air Corps. He enjoyed his training as a recruit. Compared to the life on the ranch, it wasnt much of a challenge. That was soon to change. In late 1941, the 19th Bomb Group, to which Ben was assigned, was stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines. At their Thanksgiving dinner that year, their Commanding Officer, Major Davis, told them to enjoy their dinner, since it might be a long time before they had another one like it. It turned out that he was right. On December 8, those stationed at Clark Field received the news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japanese. Later that night, Clark Field was bombed. On Christmas Day, the soldiers at Clark Field were given the order to move to Bataan. There, they were on the front lines of the battle against the Japanese. Food rations were cut in half, and medicine was scarce. The soldiers killed and ate all of the domestic animals they could find, and stripped the fruit trees. They were constantly hungry. By April 9, when Bataan was surrendered to the Japanese, the soldiers were in poor shape physically, and were disillusioned because of the lack of support from the U.S. government.

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