Jennifer Bennie shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Jennifer, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
I am most proud of in the last month visiting the grave of Medal of Honor Recipient LT Michael Murphy, United States Navy on Long Island. If you do “The Murph” work out for Memorial Day, he is who it is named for. Murphy was the Navy Seal Officer in charge of Operation Redwings made popular by the book and movie “Lone Survivor.” LT Murphy exposed himself to enemy fire to radio in support to save his men. That action ultimately proved fatal for him, however one of his team survived and was rescued a couple of days later.
For me, Michael has a special connection, he is a Penn Stater, and the only Penn Stater to receive the Medal of Honor. He was Penn State Class of 1998, and I am Penn State Class of 1999. He went to Navy Officer Candidate School in Pensacola Florida in 2000, and I was there at the same time for Navy Flight School. He was then stationed in San Diego finishing BUD/S in October 2001, and I was stationed there at the same time having just gotten winged September 14, 2001. However, I never met him. It was not until after his death I learned all about him and how our lives paralleled each other. Once I learned he went to Penn State, the ONLY Penn Stater Medal of Honor, I made it one of my missions of Walk with History to tell his story any time I can. Visiting his grave last month was my first time there, I left a Penn State Hat, and got to salute a hero that I am proud to have gone to school and served in the United States Navy with. We are……
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Jenn is a former United States military pilot earning her Naval Aviator wings 3 days after 9/11, on September 14, 2001. She flew the SH-60-Bravo Seahawk Helicopter completing multiple deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Jenn utilized her GI Bill earned through her honorable military service for a master’s degree of American History, and Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Memphis. She started Walk with History with Scott, her active-duty United States Navy Officer husband, taking the viewer on location to historic sites around the world. Walk with History is passionate that history belongs to all of us equally, guiding the viewer to personally connect with our past.
Scott and Jenn, along with their family, explore history to walk in the footsteps of the people that came before us. Listen to the Talk with History Podcast if you are on a history road trip for more in-depth background for your own adventure. Come Along On Our Next Walk with History!!
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
Since I was 8 years old I wanted to be a pilot. Everything I did from that moment until I got my Naval Aviation Wings 3 days after 9-11 had been in pursuit of that dream. However, it was my first solo that I was overwhelmed with accomplishment. It was my 13 flight in US Navy Flight School. I had never flown an aircraft before Flight School, I had no private training. The first flight the instructor pilot shows you everything, the second flight you have to take off by yourself on the controls and the third flight you have to land by yourself on the controls. They are always there for safety as the co-pilot but you have to prove quick proficiency in learning the procedures and that you are willing to try without hesitation, all things that are vital to being a Naval Aviator. I was able to do those things, and after 12 flights you have a check-ride for your first solo. Flight 13, the first solo, is over an hour of flying from base to another airfield, doing 5 touch and go landings, then coming back to base. However, you can fly for the full hour. I took off from base and immediately went to the outline airfield, and did my 5 touch and go landings. I got the thumbs up from the pilot there on the ground grading the landings. Then headed back towards base, but before I did I climbed high close to the clouds and saw my shadow of just me in the cockpit against the white. I reached out and put my hand on the windscreen, never had I felt such a sense of accomplishment in my life. I was overwhelmed with the validation I am capable of anything I can dream of. I promised myself to always Dream Big, and thanked God for that moment of just He and I in the clouds.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
If I could say one thing to my younger self, it would be you’ve got this! Keep going! Trust your instincts, and try not to party so hard in college! 🙂
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
As a historian, I protect the public trust that historians have built before me. I believe historians do not cherry pick historical facts to justify the present and I also do not think history repeats. The time of the past will always be the past, we are always moving forward with knowledge, communication, technology, education and medicine, but I do believe history can echo. So it is important to learn the lessons from our past for a better future. As a historian, that is my job to tell those facts, the truth does not have versions, and it is not my job to tell you what to think. My job is to tell you HOW to think. I present all the facts of the past, you decide how you feel about that and what you learn from it. By part is the trust that I am giving you all the background for you to make a decision and that trust stays rooted in my commitment to present you with all the facts surrounding an historical event or person.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
As a combat Navy Pilot, I understand there are people that can never tell their story. There are men and women that have paid the ultimate sacrifice in laying down their life for freedom. Sometimes it is hard for me to pontificate my story, or my time in the US Navy as it is done, but I do it because they can not. They can not tell their stories and their stories deserve to be known. So as uncomfortable as I may be sometimes, or it may seem like I am boasting, I am validating why I am telling their stories, and how important it is to me that a fellow service member tell the stories of our service members or history makers of America.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://walkwithhistory.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/walkwithhistory/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-mitchell-bennie-ma-554b126/
- Twitter: @WalkwithHistori
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WalkWithHistori/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/WalkwithHistory
- Other: Talk with History Podcast https://www.talkwithhistory.com/
Image Credits
All were taken by me!
