In his brother's biography, "Golden Boy," Bob Thomas describes Bob Beedle's death in air combat at Kavieng, New Ireland in the South Pacific:
"Ensign Beedle, who had already destroyed two Japanese Zeros, had been part of a carrier-based squadron of Hellcats escorting dive bombers on the raid. The Hellcats were attacked by half a dozen Zeros, and Beedle's plane was apparently hit as he turned to intercept a pair of Japanese planes that concentrated on him. Said his section leader: 'His Hellcat swept upward in a lazy loop, pulled out just above the water, flew level for a few seconds, then plunged into the whitecaps. His guns were still blasting.'"
After The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955) was released, Beedle was remembered by his squadron-mates as having been very much like Holden's character, Lt. Harry Brubaker.
South Pasadena High School Class Of 1939
In his brother's biography, "Golden Boy," Bob Thomas describes Bob Beedle's death in air combat at Kavieng, New Ireland in the South Pacific:
"Ensign Beedle, who had already destroyed two Japanese Zeros, had been part of a carrier-based squadron of Hellcats escorting dive bombers on the raid. The Hellcats were attacked by half a dozen Zeros, and Beedle's plane was apparently hit as he turned to intercept a pair of Japanese planes that concentrated on him. Said his section leader: 'His Hellcat swept upward in a lazy loop, pulled out just above the water, flew level for a few seconds, then plunged into the whitecaps. His guns were still blasting.'"
After The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955) was released, Beedle was remembered by his squadron-mates as having been very much like Holden's character, Lt. Harry Brubaker.
South Pasadena High School Class Of 1939
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from California.
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