.png)
Benjamin Ruben Montaño
March 26, 1949 ~ May 23, 1969
Specialist 4th Class, U.S. Army
Benjamin Ruben Montaño was born on March 26, 1949, in California. He graduated from Tucson High School in 1967. While at Tucson High, Montaño was a member of the 1966 State Championship football team. His brother, Francisco Montaño, served in the U.S. Marines and was killed in action in April 1967. It was not long after Francisco was killed that Ruben joined the Army. SP4 Ruben Montaño was serving with B Company of 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry in the 9th Infantry Division. He was wounded in action during the battle of Hamburger Hill in May 1969 and was evacuated to Camp Pendleton, California, where he came down with malaria and died a month later. The Montaño brothers were the only set of brothers from the Tucson area to be killed in action during the Vietnam War.
Benjamin Ruben Montaño is now honored on the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. in Row 09, Panel 24W. When the initial lists of the men and women whose names would be placed on the memorial, SP4 Benjamin Ruben Montano was overlooked ... an error not corrected until May of 2001, when his named was engraved on the Wall.
Sources: Tucson Daily Citizen, June 27, 1969; Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Wall of Faces; Honor States.
Ronald Curry
Ruben died from duty in Viet Nam. He was a Badger who was good in sports, worked hard, was a good teammate, and helped us win even if he often was not on the field. I'm sure his soldier comrades felt the same about him. For the longest time, I couldn't find his name on the Viet Nam wall. That's because he came home wounded and died later, so the records were messed up. He finally was added, but I didn't realize his first name was not Ruben. Anyhow, bless you Benjamin Ruben, and thank you for your sacrifice.