Military Service

Rank:  Ensign

Combat Organization:  United States Navy Reserve

Death Date:  January 5, 1945

Monument:  Fort William McKinley, Manila, The Philippines

Last Known Status:  Missing

U.S. Awards:  Purple Heart Medal, Air Medal, Additional Navy-Marine Corps Awards

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In the biography of William Holden (Bob's older brother), "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.'"