Elmwood, IL – Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18) today introduced legislation to honor the life of late Corporal Benjamin Desilets of Elmwood, Illinois. The legislation would rename the Elmwood Post Office located at 114 North Magnolia Street after Corporal Desilets. Born on January 16, 1986, Corporal Desilets would have celebrated his 36th birthday this past weekend.
"Our country will forever be indebted to Corporal Benjamin Desilets and we can never fully repay him or his family for his dedication to America," said Rep. LaHood. "Renaming the Elmwood Post Office is a small but important gesture that will serve as a humble reminder of his service in defense of the freedoms we enjoy every day. We live in the greatest country in the world because of men and women like Corporal Desilets and we will forever be grateful for his sacrifice."
Corporal Desilets graduated from Elmwood High School in Illinois in 2004. He left for boot camp on Labor Day 2004 and graduated from Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego in December 2004. Later, he was assigned to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Cpl. Desilets deployed to Ramadi, Iraq, in August 2005.
In February of 2007, he deployed again to Fallujah, Iraq. On May 22, 2007, 21-year-old Corporal Desilets was driving the lead vehicle returning from a mission in the dark of the night where he was killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the Al Anbar province of Iraq.
Corporal Desilets was awarded a Purple Heart, Navy, and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device, Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, and Sea Service Deployment Medal. He was posthumously promoted to Corporal.
He is survived by his daughter Kyra Coyle-Desilets.
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