Corporal Benjamin Stephen Kopp was born on January 20, 1988, and grew up in Rosemount, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities. He was the only child of Jill Stephenson and Duane Kopp. Ben’s decision to serve was shaped by his great-grandfather, a World War II veteran whose medals were displayed in the family home. His mother said Ben loved the history of his country and the stories his great-grandfather told, and he admired the old soldier deeply.
At Rosemount High School Ben played football and lifted weights, approaching everything with intensity and a strong work ethic. An assistant principal remembered a young man with a great sense of right and wrong who wanted to be the one to defend his country. Friends described him as one of the funniest people they knew: sweet, caring, outgoing, polite and strong. He graduated in 2006 and enlisted in the Army.
Ben earned the Ranger Tab and joined Company C, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. He loved the regiment and the friends he made there and talked about staying in the South when his service was done. He deployed twice to Iraq and, in May 2009, to Afghanistan.
On July 10, 2009, Ben’s Ranger unit assaulted a Taliban safe haven in Helmand Province and fought a determined enemy from multiple directions for several hours; more than ten enemy fighters were killed. During the battle Ben was shot in the leg after helping to save six of his fellow Rangers. The loss of blood sent him into cardiac arrest at the battalion surgical center, and he never regained consciousness. He was flown to Germany and then to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where he died on July 18, 2009. He was 21.
Ben was a registered organ donor, and his final gift saved lives. His heart was transplanted into Judy Meikle, a Chicago-area woman with congenital heart disease who was a friend of Ben’s cousin, and it continued beating strongly in her chest for many years. His mother said that his service and his final act of generosity made her prouder than she ever thought possible. Ben was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, as he had requested. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Purple Heart. His other awards include two Army Achievement Medals, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Parachutist Badge and the Ranger Tab.
Ben is survived by his mother, Jill Stephenson, his father, Duane Kopp, his grandparents and great-grandmother, many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends and his brothers-in-arms of the 75th Ranger Regiment. Jill has since devoted herself to honoring Ben’s memory and supporting other families of the fallen.
CPL Kopp saved 6 of his teammates when he was shot in the leg during a Ranger assault on a Taliban safe haven.
75th Ranger Regiment Command
Sources
- MPR News: Family, friends remember Minn. Army Ranger (July 20, 2009)
- The Washington Post: The heart of a hero beats on (Aug. 2009)
- Star Tribune: Rosemount soldier was ‘hard-wired’ for heroism
- USO: The heart of a hero
- U.S. Army Ranger Association: Fallen Ranger memorial, Benjamin Kopp
- Family-provided records on file with MVF: Ben Kopp bio
