It is a rare achievement for a veteran to be a member of the American Legion for 75 years.

But lifelong Middlebury, Ind., resident and parttime Fountain Hills resident James R. Beniser earned the distinction recently.

A Navy veteran and American Legion member of Fountain Hills Post 58, Beniser, in coordination with the local post, was awarded the 75-year continuous membership. He also was awarded American Legion Valor certificates during a ceremony at Post 210 in his hometown in Indiana during a regular meeting.

James Robert “Bob” Breniser was born in 1924 in Middlebury and enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the age of 18 in March 1943. He served until April 1946.

His basic training was at Great Lakes Naval training station in northern Illinois. From there he was stationed in San Francisco, then shipped off to Australia. From there he was in Panama City, Panama, for three months. He then was stationed in the South Pacific for two years.

He was stationed at Admiral Thomas Kinkaid’s base, which was beside General Douglas MacArthur’s base in New Guinea from 1943 to 1945. He was the ship’s cook second class and was one of five cooks on the base for 125 people.

After his discharge, he worked for NIPSCO for a short time then worked with his parents when they bought The Middlebury Dairy. He delivered ice and made ice cream.

He and his wife, Bernie, were married in 1950. They had three children and were married for 69 years. He has three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

He still lives in the home he moved to in 1961. He has been an avid Cubs fan since he was 12 years old.

Beniser marched in the Memorial Day parade for about 10 years as a rifleman in the color guard.