Ben DeWitt

Ben DeWitt passed away August 9, 2017, in Pueblo, Colorado, losing his final, well-fought battle to Agent Orange exposure during his two combat tours in Vietnam. Ben once wrote of the war, 'if the bullets don't get you, the jungle will.' Ben was born and raised in El Paso, Texas and graduated from Bel Air High School. He entered the Army as a private in 1963, assigned to the 82nd Airborne. By 1965, his government made him an officer and a gentleman in the field artillery. Two tours in Viet Nam, the first with the First Infantry Division as an artillery forward observer with 1/16th Infantry Company and the second with the Military Advisory Command Viet Nam, living with the 25th ARVN Division on the Cambodian border, brought him a chest full of combat medals and an insight into combat which emerged thirty years later in his best-selling fiction. He worked in the oil fields of Texas, Wyoming and Michigan, mined copper in the open pits of Arizona and worked as a mechanic a thousand feet underground in Wyoming. He wrote seven popular adventure novels which feature many of his real-life adventures. Regardless of his occupation, Ben had a life-long love of racing anything with a motor. During his many years with Sports Car Club of America, he won regional and divisional championships in both road racing and autocross. He loved racing, restoring, building, repairing, buying and selling all cars and motorcycles. Ben is predeceased by his parents, Albert and Billie DeWitt and brother, Jeff. He is survived by his loving wife, Nancy; brother, James DeWitt; sister, Rebecca DeWitt and husband, Rod Kroger; sister, Patricia DeWitt and son, Christopher; son, Paul DeWitt and his wife, Kim of Alpine, Texas; son, Roy DeWitt and his wife, Kari and their children of Pinedale, Wyoming; and beloved stepdaughters, Amanda Hastings Drazin and Emily Hastings of Denver. A very special thank you to all those who provided such loving care during Ben's final days, including Amanda, Emily and Kim, and the wonderful caregivers of Sangre de Cristo Hospice. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Inurnment will be at Arlington National Cemetery. Contributions may be made in Ben's name to The Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Rd., Ste. 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256 or Sangre de Cristo Hospice, 1207 Pueblo Blvd Way, Pueblo, CO 81005. To Absent Companions! Online condolences, www.montgomerysteward.com