William Pershing Benedict (July 20, 1918 – August 31, 1974) was an American pilot who was born in Ruth, Nevada and raised in California.
He was a highly decorated World War II fighter pilot who served in both the RCAF and the U.S. Army Air Forces.
18 months after joining the U.S. Army Air Forces, at 26 years of age, Benedict achieved the rank of Major and was made Squadron Commander.
Readings taken by the scientists accompanying Benedict and his crew verified that they were the first American men to set foot on the exact geographical North Pole.
He then worked as a firefighting pilot in California where he was killed in a plane crash on August 31, 1974, while flying a Grumman F7F Tigercat dropping fire retardant in the Ukiah area.