Benjamin Huffman served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, where he was trained, and with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a First Lieutenant during World War II. He died on September 28, 1945 when the TB-24J Liberator he was co-piloting caught fire. He remained at the controls, bringing the plane to a safe landing, allowing three crew members to survive. However, he and pilot Major William McKinley were trapped in the cockpit by fire. Both died from their burn injuries.