JAMES LEE VAN BENDEGOM
Rank/Branch: E4/US Army Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division Home City of Record: Kenosha WI Date of Loss: 12 Jul 1967 Loss Coordinates: 134026N 1073809E (YA850131) Status (in 1973): Prisoner of War REMARKS: WOUNDED; DIED
SYNOPSIS: On July 12, 1967, SP4 Martin S. Frank, PFC Nathan B. Henry, Sgt. Cordine McMurray, PFC Stanley A. Newell, PFC Richard R. Perricone, SP4 James F. Schiele and PFC James L. Van Bendegom, all members of Company B, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, were conducting a search and destroy mission along the Cambodian border when their position was overrun by the Viet Cong. With the exception of Schiele, all the men were captured. The U.S. Army notes that Schiele and Van Bendegom were captured by the North Vietnamese, while the others, apparently, were captured by Viet Cong  PFC Van Bendegom was also wounded in the engagement, and was seen alive by other Americans captured in the same battle about one week after his capture at a communist field hospital in Cambodia, not far from his capture location. One of the released Americans was later told by the commanding North Vietnamese officer at his prison camp in Cambodia that SP4 Van Bendegom had died of his wounds. Van Bendegom was categorized as a Prisoner of War.

Having Been Led by Love of Country