Owosso - Alvin Bentley IV was a 12-year-old at Staunton Military Academy in Virginia when four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire in the U.S. House of Representatives, seriously wounding his father.
Bentley watched the aftermath of the bloody attack on March 1, 1954 - 50 years ago Monday - on TV inside the headmaster's living quarters.
Extremists shouting "Free Puerto Rico!" had fired 30 shots inside the chamber, striking Republican U.S. Rep. Alvin M. Bentley of Owosso and four other congressmen: Ben E. Jensen, R-Iowa; Clifford Davis, D-Tenn.; Kenneth A. Roberts, D-Ala.; and George H. Fallon, D-Md.
"Of course I was shocked, but the whole thing didn't really hit me. ... I don't recall that I knew how seriously injured he was," said the younger Bentley. "He had less than a 50-50 chance to come through."
Former U.S. District Judge Alexander Holtzoff - who sentenced the would-be assassins - described the assault at the time as "so heinous, so infamous, so daring and so atrocious as to shock the conscience of the nation."
Even so, the attack is little known today among people too young to remember it firsthand.
Bentley was the most seriously injured of the five, undergoing extensive surgery during the first 24 hours after he collapsed on the House floor. He was struck in the upper right chest by a bullet that traveled through his lung, diaphragm, liver and stomach and came out his left side.
The tragedy rippled through his 8th Congressional District, which covered Shiawassee, Saginaw, Ionia, Gratiot, Montcalm and Clinton counties.
"Everybody was shocked, and even those who weren't his fans were just as appalled at what had happened," said Flora Davis, mother of Owosso Mayor John C. M. "Jack" Davis. "It was a ghastly thing they did. He just happened to be in the line of fire."
Bentley, a multimillionaire and first-term congressman, received a rousing welcome in his hometown several months after the shooting.
Honking horns and cheers drowned the 70-piece Owosso High School band as he stepped from a plane to be greeted by an estimated 1,000 people. A 10-car motorcade escorted him to his Owosso home.
Although the four people charged in the shooting spree received maximum prison sentences ranging up to 75 years, they were released early, said Ann Marie Bentley, 42, of Perry Township, the congressman's youngest daughter.
"Those people hurt my dad, and why did they get to get out of jail?" she asked. "My father had no ill feeling toward the Puerto Rican people. ... Hundreds of Puerto Ricans had sent him get well cards."
Bentley served in the House until 1960, when he ran for the U.S. Senate and lost in the general election.
After leaving the Washington political arena, Bentley focused his efforts on improving education - a task family and friends rank among his top accomplishments.
In 1961, he established the Alvin M. Bentley Foundation, which continues today to annually award four $10,000 college scholarships to students for four years.
"It was a magnificent effort," said Jerry DesJardins, a former trustee on the foundation's Board of Directors who now lives in Florida. "It's done so much good for so many people and provides resources for people to get educated."
DesJardins' father, Norman, was a charter member of the foundation and political adviser and legal counsel for Bentley. DesJardin said their families grew close over the years.
"(Bentley) was very much interested in education," DesJardins said. "That became the mainstay of his life after out of politics."
Former Gov. George Romney chose Bentley to fill a vacancy on the University of Michigan Board of Regents and also appointed him to the Citizen's Committee on Higher Education.
Alvin Bentley IV, who has six adult children and lives in Perry, said he is proud of his dad's record in public service.
"He had the ability to live a life of leisure, and he didn't," he said. "He provided well for his family, but he devoted himself to public service."
His father's legacy remains evident today with a historical library at UM and an elementary school in Owosso bearing his name.
He also is remembered for his involvement with the Shiawassee County Historical Society and Memorial Healthcare Hospital in Owosso.
"He was very good to work with," said George Hoddy, 99, former chairman of Memorial Healthcare. "He was strictly honest and fought for what was good. He wasn't a bit backward about where he stood on things. He was a good fellow and considerate to the community."
***