Elli Benson was the wife of Nils Christer Benson and mother of M. David Benson. Upon learning of his son´s engagement to a woman well below his station, Oskar Benson turned his back on Nils, cutting him from the family inheritance. Leaving Norway, now pregnant, Elli and Nils established a new life in the U.S., joining the U.S. Marine Corps in December of 1941. Sadly, however, Nils Benson lost his life on Omaha Beach just a few short years later.