{"links":{"self":"https://flvc.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bnames%5D%5B%5D=Joseph+C.+Beckham","last":"https://flvc.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bnames%5D%5B%5D=Joseph+C.+Beckham\u0026page=1"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":1,"next_page":null,"prev_page":null,"total_pages":1,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":0,"total_count":1,"first_page?":true,"last_page?":true}},"data":[{"id":"44907cb6c8dead0a23adaa50","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Walter Carl Beckham collection, circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27","creator":{"id":"https://flvc.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/44907cb6c8dead0a23adaa50#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":["Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996"],"label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://flvc.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/44907cb6c8dead0a23adaa50#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection relates to Colonel Walter Carl Beckham who served with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a P-47 fighter pilot with the 353rd Fighter Group in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. He was credited 18 aerial victories. He was shot down and subsequently became a German Prisoner of War. He was the recipient of the Distingquished Service Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Air Medal, and Legion of Merit. This collection contains Beckham's medals, badges, pins, photographs, veteran's items, and newspaper articles.\u003c/p\u003e"],"label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://flvc.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/44907cb6c8dead0a23adaa50#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":[{"id":"44907cb6c8dead0a23adaa50","title_filing_ssi":"Beckham, Walter Carl Collection","title_ssm":["Walter Carl Beckham collection"],"title_tesim":["Walter Carl Beckham collection"],"ead_ssi":"44907cb6c8dead0a23adaa50","unitdate_ssm":["circa 1941-1996","Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["circa 1941-1996"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["19.0013","/repositories/10/resources/1443"],"text":["19.0013","/repositories/10/resources/1443","Walter Carl Beckham collection, circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27","World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Europe","United States. Army Air Forces. Bomber Command, 8th","Thunderbolt (Fighter plane)","This collection is open to all researchers.","Walter Carl Beckham was born on May 12, 1916 in Paxton, Florida, the youngest of\nthree brothers. He was a war hero, a scientist, and a sentimental man who recited\nYeats. He possessed a clear code of honor, a marvelous sense of humour, and an\nenterprising and creative spirit. As a young boy during the Depression in DePuniak\nSprings, Florida, he transformed his paper route with a fleet of old bicycles that he\nrepaired and then provided as an incentive to other boys, who ran additional routes\nunder his direction. \nWhen the United States entered World War II, he felt he would be better off in the air\ninstead of on the ground, and so he tried to enlist. When the Army Air Corps refused\nhim for being underweight, he resolved the problem at a second interview by\nslumping down, and as a \"shorter\" man,\" fulfilled the USAAC's height and weight\nrequirements. Although he had not attended college, he passed the college\ngraduation exam (and won his bus fare back home in a dice game.) \nHe went through flight training at Americus, Georgia, and graduated with the Aviation\nCadet Class of 41-1. During one check ride, he was told to \"spin it\" even with the\nground rapidly approaching, he thought it proper for the check pilot to direct him to\nrecover. He suspected it might be a test to see if he would \"chicken out.\" At a very\nlow altitude the check pilot disproved this theory by grabbing the controls to recover, shouting \"Are you trying to kill us?\"  \nHe was assigned to the Curtiss P-36 \"Hawk,\" which he later referred to as the best he had ever flown. He also flew the Curtiss P-40, and eventually the new Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. After a tour in the Canal Zone and Ecuador, he was sent to Europe\nin 1943, in charge of the newly formed 351st Fighter Squadron under the group's command of Lt Colonel Glenn E. Duncan. When it came time to name his aircraft, a P-47 Thunderbolt, he chose \"Little Demon,\" a character from Al Capp's \"Lil\" Abner\" comic strip. \nHis squadron was part of the 353rd Fighter Group, and their responsibilities included escort and fighter sweep duties, ground support and dive-bombing. The only dive-bombing training the pilots had undergone had been stateside with the P-40, a completely different task. Having flown both airplanes, my father understood the problem and approached Colonel Duncan with some new theories. The two gentlemen devised a set of techniques that were used until the end of the war. They entered combat on August 12,1943. \nOn September 23,1943, Walter Beckham brought down his first enemy aircraft, a\nFocke-Wulf 190 near Nantes, France. Many of his subsequent victories were scored\nin doubles and in one case a triple. On October 10, 1943, on an escort mission to\nMunster, he destroyed three twin-engine German aircraft. The third hit depleted his\nammunition, and when another ME-110 came towards him \"...I turned sharply toward\nhim and he broke violently, evading my P-47 with empty guns.\" A growing number of\nswastikas joined the bright yellow \"Little Demon\" artwork under the canopy.\n \nHe was shot down on February 22,1944 while attacking parked FW 190s on a base\nat Ostheim, Germany. This was during \"Big Week,\" the all out attack against the\nGerman aircraft industry. At the time he was America's leading ace in the European\nTheatre with eighteen German air victories in six months of combat. He had flown 56\nmissions, although, with a mathematician's precision, he counted 5614. His lifetime\nfriend Claude Jenkins remembers seeing the news of his last mission in Time\nMagazine, with his quote to a wingmate: \"Take the boys home, George, I've been\nhit!\" \"... I was hit by something when I was still at 4-5,000 feet altitude - long before I began firing... Smoke is belching from my engine. But It still runs, I cut off the fuel - coasting - no help. Woods are northward, England is westward. I am in no trouble if my engine keeps running, and I ask my friends to proceed on home. I unfasten the seat and shoulder belts and run the canopy back. I'm hoping for the smoke to go\naway, while ready to bail out fast Where there's smoke there's fire? Whoever said\nthat is damned right...I'm down well under a thousand feet. There's no question\nabout what to do. Let's do it. I stand up in the seat and try to dive out of the left side of the cockpit I'm stuck! What the hell is holding me? Time to do a little thinking...I sit back down. I jam the stick forward with my right foot. Departing the cockpit as she plunges down I feel a bump, but it doesn't hurt. I make a Joke that I have \"ejected\" myself-this before ejection seats were invented!\"\n He spent the next 14 months in Stalag Luft III at Sagan, and at Moorsburg, where access to an elementary college physics book sparked his interest. On 29 April 1945 Patton's 14th Armored Division liberated him. After the war, he stayed in the newly formed US Air Force as a squadron commander of the first jet-equipped fighter group. He received a BS degree in physics from the University of Florida in 1949, and a MS in physics from Ohio State University in 1950. He attended graduate school at the University of Califomla, Berkeley, where he studied under Edward Teller and received his PhD in physics in 1962. \nWalter Beckham was the founding chief scientist of the Air Force Weapons\nLaboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, near Albuquerque, New Mexico, and continued\nas chief scientist for six years. During this time, he nurtured a tradition of scientific excellence and mentored many young officer-scientists trying to resolve the scientific, political, and moral concerns inherent to nuclear weapons. His principal research interests centered on nuclear weapons and their effects, and later on survivability and vulnerability issues for nuclear weapons. \nHe retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1969, and continued as a consultant at\nLawrence Livermore Laboratory, working on various defense-related strategic\nstudies. For his many services, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, the\nSilver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and the Legion of Merit. \nAfter retirement he lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife Lorraine and two\nvery spoiled Shetland Sheepdogs. Throughout this time, he often received letters\nfrom Thunderbolt enthusiasts and World War II history buffs, which he always\nanswered. His airplane was painted by the aviation artist Robert St. Vincent \"High\nSpeed, Low Pass,\" and reproductions were printed (the original is on display at\nEdwards AFB.) When Ray Stutsman approached him about painting his own Thunderbolt as \"Little Demon\" he declined and suggested another pilot's aircraft. Mr. Stutsman persisted and my father then suggested a second comrade's plane. Mr. Stutsman remained firm, and my father conceded. In 1985, 44 years after his bail out over enemy territory, he took a ride in the jump seat of the aircraft. The first issue of Thunderbolt Enthusiasts International was dedicated to him. He never bragged about his achievements and often seemed bemused at the attention he received. \"Only do things now that you will be proud of later\" was the one piece of advice he gave his admirers.\nWalter Carl Beckham died of a heart attack on 31 May 1996 in Albuquerque, New\nMexico, and is survived by his wife Lorraine and daughter Melissa. \nVerbatim transcript source:\n \nBeckham, Melissa.  Walter Carl Beckham Biography, 1996. Manuscript. From Institute on World War II and the Human Experience,  Walter Carl Beckham Collection. (accessed July 12, 2019).","Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections \u0026 Archives in July 2022.","This collection relates to Colonel Walter Carl Beckham who served with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a P-47 fighter pilot with the 353rd Fighter Group in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. He was credited 18 aerial victories. He was shot down and subsequently became a German Prisoner of War. He was the recipient of the Distingquished Service Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Air Medal, and Legion of Merit. This collection contains Beckham's medals, badges, pins, photographs, veteran's items, and newspaper articles.","All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections \u0026 Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.","FSU Special Collections \u0026 Archives","United States. Army Air Forces. Fighter Group, 353rd","Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham","English"],"unitid_tesim":["19.0013","/repositories/10/resources/1443"],"normalized_date_ssm":["circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Walter Carl Beckham collection, circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"collection_title_tesim":["Walter Carl Beckham collection, circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"collection_ssim":["Walter Carl Beckham collection, circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"repository_ssm":["FSU Special Collections \u0026 Archives"],"repository_ssim":["FSU Special Collections \u0026 Archives"],"creator_ssm":["Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"creator_ssim":["Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"creators_ssim":["Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"access_terms_ssm":["All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections \u0026 Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection was donated by Joseph C. Beckham who is the nephew of Walter Carl Beckham."],"access_subjects_ssim":["World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Europe","United States. Army Air Forces. Bomber Command, 8th","Thunderbolt (Fighter plane)"],"access_subjects_ssm":["World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Europe","United States. Army Air Forces. Bomber Command, 8th","Thunderbolt (Fighter plane)"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".5 Linear Feet 1 half box"],"extent_tesim":[".5 Linear Feet 1 half box"],"date_range_isim":[1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is open to all researchers.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["This collection is open to all researchers."],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical / Historical"],"bioghist_tesim":["Walter Carl Beckham was born on May 12, 1916 in Paxton, Florida, the youngest of\nthree brothers. He was a war hero, a scientist, and a sentimental man who recited\nYeats. He possessed a clear code of honor, a marvelous sense of humour, and an\nenterprising and creative spirit. As a young boy during the Depression in DePuniak\nSprings, Florida, he transformed his paper route with a fleet of old bicycles that he\nrepaired and then provided as an incentive to other boys, who ran additional routes\nunder his direction. \nWhen the United States entered World War II, he felt he would be better off in the air\ninstead of on the ground, and so he tried to enlist. When the Army Air Corps refused\nhim for being underweight, he resolved the problem at a second interview by\nslumping down, and as a \"shorter\" man,\" fulfilled the USAAC's height and weight\nrequirements. Although he had not attended college, he passed the college\ngraduation exam (and won his bus fare back home in a dice game.) \nHe went through flight training at Americus, Georgia, and graduated with the Aviation\nCadet Class of 41-1. During one check ride, he was told to \"spin it\" even with the\nground rapidly approaching, he thought it proper for the check pilot to direct him to\nrecover. He suspected it might be a test to see if he would \"chicken out.\" At a very\nlow altitude the check pilot disproved this theory by grabbing the controls to recover, shouting \"Are you trying to kill us?\"  \nHe was assigned to the Curtiss P-36 \"Hawk,\" which he later referred to as the best he had ever flown. He also flew the Curtiss P-40, and eventually the new Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. After a tour in the Canal Zone and Ecuador, he was sent to Europe\nin 1943, in charge of the newly formed 351st Fighter Squadron under the group's command of Lt Colonel Glenn E. Duncan. When it came time to name his aircraft, a P-47 Thunderbolt, he chose \"Little Demon,\" a character from Al Capp's \"Lil\" Abner\" comic strip. \nHis squadron was part of the 353rd Fighter Group, and their responsibilities included escort and fighter sweep duties, ground support and dive-bombing. The only dive-bombing training the pilots had undergone had been stateside with the P-40, a completely different task. Having flown both airplanes, my father understood the problem and approached Colonel Duncan with some new theories. The two gentlemen devised a set of techniques that were used until the end of the war. They entered combat on August 12,1943. \nOn September 23,1943, Walter Beckham brought down his first enemy aircraft, a\nFocke-Wulf 190 near Nantes, France. Many of his subsequent victories were scored\nin doubles and in one case a triple. On October 10, 1943, on an escort mission to\nMunster, he destroyed three twin-engine German aircraft. The third hit depleted his\nammunition, and when another ME-110 came towards him \"...I turned sharply toward\nhim and he broke violently, evading my P-47 with empty guns.\" A growing number of\nswastikas joined the bright yellow \"Little Demon\" artwork under the canopy.\n \nHe was shot down on February 22,1944 while attacking parked FW 190s on a base\nat Ostheim, Germany. This was during \"Big Week,\" the all out attack against the\nGerman aircraft industry. At the time he was America's leading ace in the European\nTheatre with eighteen German air victories in six months of combat. He had flown 56\nmissions, although, with a mathematician's precision, he counted 5614. His lifetime\nfriend Claude Jenkins remembers seeing the news of his last mission in Time\nMagazine, with his quote to a wingmate: \"Take the boys home, George, I've been\nhit!\" \"... I was hit by something when I was still at 4-5,000 feet altitude - long before I began firing... Smoke is belching from my engine. But It still runs, I cut off the fuel - coasting - no help. Woods are northward, England is westward. I am in no trouble if my engine keeps running, and I ask my friends to proceed on home. I unfasten the seat and shoulder belts and run the canopy back. I'm hoping for the smoke to go\naway, while ready to bail out fast Where there's smoke there's fire? Whoever said\nthat is damned right...I'm down well under a thousand feet. There's no question\nabout what to do. Let's do it. I stand up in the seat and try to dive out of the left side of the cockpit I'm stuck! What the hell is holding me? Time to do a little thinking...I sit back down. I jam the stick forward with my right foot. Departing the cockpit as she plunges down I feel a bump, but it doesn't hurt. I make a Joke that I have \"ejected\" myself-this before ejection seats were invented!\"\n He spent the next 14 months in Stalag Luft III at Sagan, and at Moorsburg, where access to an elementary college physics book sparked his interest. On 29 April 1945 Patton's 14th Armored Division liberated him. After the war, he stayed in the newly formed US Air Force as a squadron commander of the first jet-equipped fighter group. He received a BS degree in physics from the University of Florida in 1949, and a MS in physics from Ohio State University in 1950. He attended graduate school at the University of Califomla, Berkeley, where he studied under Edward Teller and received his PhD in physics in 1962. \nWalter Beckham was the founding chief scientist of the Air Force Weapons\nLaboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, near Albuquerque, New Mexico, and continued\nas chief scientist for six years. During this time, he nurtured a tradition of scientific excellence and mentored many young officer-scientists trying to resolve the scientific, political, and moral concerns inherent to nuclear weapons. His principal research interests centered on nuclear weapons and their effects, and later on survivability and vulnerability issues for nuclear weapons. \nHe retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1969, and continued as a consultant at\nLawrence Livermore Laboratory, working on various defense-related strategic\nstudies. For his many services, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, the\nSilver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and the Legion of Merit. \nAfter retirement he lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife Lorraine and two\nvery spoiled Shetland Sheepdogs. Throughout this time, he often received letters\nfrom Thunderbolt enthusiasts and World War II history buffs, which he always\nanswered. His airplane was painted by the aviation artist Robert St. Vincent \"High\nSpeed, Low Pass,\" and reproductions were printed (the original is on display at\nEdwards AFB.) When Ray Stutsman approached him about painting his own Thunderbolt as \"Little Demon\" he declined and suggested another pilot's aircraft. Mr. Stutsman persisted and my father then suggested a second comrade's plane. Mr. Stutsman remained firm, and my father conceded. In 1985, 44 years after his bail out over enemy territory, he took a ride in the jump seat of the aircraft. The first issue of Thunderbolt Enthusiasts International was dedicated to him. He never bragged about his achievements and often seemed bemused at the attention he received. \"Only do things now that you will be proud of later\" was the one piece of advice he gave his admirers.\nWalter Carl Beckham died of a heart attack on 31 May 1996 in Albuquerque, New\nMexico, and is survived by his wife Lorraine and daughter Melissa. \nVerbatim transcript source:\n \nBeckham, Melissa.  Walter Carl Beckham Biography, 1996. Manuscript. From Institute on World War II and the Human Experience,  Walter Carl Beckham Collection. (accessed July 12, 2019)."],"custodhist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eTransferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections \u0026amp; Archives in July 2022.\u003c/p\u003e"],"custodhist_heading_ssm":["Custodial History"],"custodhist_tesim":["Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections \u0026 Archives in July 2022."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Walter Carl Beckham collection, Special Collections \u0026amp; Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. \u003cextref href=\"http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_19_0013\"\u003ehttp://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_19_0013\u003c/extref\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Walter Carl Beckham collection, Special Collections \u0026 Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida.  http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_19_0013"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection relates to Colonel Walter Carl Beckham who served with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a P-47 fighter pilot with the 353rd Fighter Group in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. He was credited 18 aerial victories. He was shot down and subsequently became a German Prisoner of War. He was the recipient of the Distingquished Service Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Air Medal, and Legion of Merit. This collection contains Beckham's medals, badges, pins, photographs, veteran's items, and newspaper articles.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Content Description"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This collection relates to Colonel Walter Carl Beckham who served with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a P-47 fighter pilot with the 353rd Fighter Group in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. He was credited 18 aerial victories. He was shot down and subsequently became a German Prisoner of War. He was the recipient of the Distingquished Service Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Air Medal, and Legion of Merit. This collection contains Beckham's medals, badges, pins, photographs, veteran's items, and newspaper articles."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAll requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections \u0026amp; Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections \u0026 Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher."],"names_coll_ssim":["United States. Army Air Forces. Fighter Group, 353rd","Joseph C. Beckham"],"names_ssim":["FSU Special Collections \u0026 Archives","United States. Army Air Forces. Fighter Group, 353rd","Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"corpname_ssim":["FSU Special Collections \u0026 Archives","United States. Army Air Forces. Fighter Group, 353rd"],"persname_ssim":["Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":17,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"44907cb6c8dead0a23adaa50","timestamp":"2026-04-21T05:17:53.647Z","bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eWalter Carl Beckham was born on May 12, 1916 in Paxton, Florida, the youngest of\nthree brothers. He was a war hero, a scientist, and a sentimental man who recited\nYeats. He possessed a clear code of honor, a marvelous sense of humour, and an\nenterprising and creative spirit. As a young boy during the Depression in DePuniak\nSprings, Florida, he transformed his paper route with a fleet of old bicycles that he\nrepaired and then provided as an incentive to other boys, who ran additional routes\nunder his direction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nWhen the United States entered World War II, he felt he would be better off in the air\ninstead of on the ground, and so he tried to enlist. When the Army Air Corps refused\nhim for being underweight, he resolved the problem at a second interview by\nslumping down, and as a \"shorter\" man,\" fulfilled the USAAC's height and weight\nrequirements. Although he had not attended college, he passed the college\ngraduation exam (and won his bus fare back home in a dice game.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHe went through flight training at Americus, Georgia, and graduated with the Aviation\nCadet Class of 41-1. During one check ride, he was told to \"spin it\" even with the\nground rapidly approaching, he thought it proper for the check pilot to direct him to\nrecover. He suspected it might be a test to see if he would \"chicken out.\" At a very\nlow altitude the check pilot disproved this theory by grabbing the controls to recover, shouting \"Are you trying to kill us?\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHe was assigned to the Curtiss P-36 \"Hawk,\" which he later referred to as the best he had ever flown. He also flew the Curtiss P-40, and eventually the new Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. After a tour in the Canal Zone and Ecuador, he was sent to Europe\nin 1943, in charge of the newly formed 351st Fighter Squadron under the group's command of Lt Colonel Glenn E. Duncan. When it came time to name his aircraft, a P-47 Thunderbolt, he chose \"Little Demon,\" a character from Al Capp's \"Lil\" Abner\" comic strip.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHis squadron was part of the 353rd Fighter Group, and their responsibilities included escort and fighter sweep duties, ground support and dive-bombing. The only dive-bombing training the pilots had undergone had been stateside with the P-40, a completely different task. Having flown both airplanes, my father understood the problem and approached Colonel Duncan with some new theories. The two gentlemen devised a set of techniques that were used until the end of the war. They entered combat on August 12,1943.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nOn September 23,1943, Walter Beckham brought down his first enemy aircraft, a\nFocke-Wulf 190 near Nantes, France. Many of his subsequent victories were scored\nin doubles and in one case a triple. On October 10, 1943, on an escort mission to\nMunster, he destroyed three twin-engine German aircraft. The third hit depleted his\nammunition, and when another ME-110 came towards him \"...I turned sharply toward\nhim and he broke violently, evading my P-47 with empty guns.\" A growing number of\nswastikas joined the bright yellow \"Little Demon\" artwork under the canopy.\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHe was shot down on February 22,1944 while attacking parked FW 190s on a base\nat Ostheim, Germany. This was during \"Big Week,\" the all out attack against the\nGerman aircraft industry. At the time he was America's leading ace in the European\nTheatre with eighteen German air victories in six months of combat. He had flown 56\nmissions, although, with a mathematician's precision, he counted 5614. His lifetime\nfriend Claude Jenkins remembers seeing the news of his last mission in Time\nMagazine, with his quote to a wingmate: \"Take the boys home, George, I've been\nhit!\" \"... I was hit by something when I was still at 4-5,000 feet altitude - long before I began firing... Smoke is belching from my engine. But It still runs, I cut off the fuel - coasting - no help. Woods are northward, England is westward. I am in no trouble if my engine keeps running, and I ask my friends to proceed on home. I unfasten the seat and shoulder belts and run the canopy back. I'm hoping for the smoke to go\naway, while ready to bail out fast Where there's smoke there's fire? Whoever said\nthat is damned right...I'm down well under a thousand feet. There's no question\nabout what to do. Let's do it. I stand up in the seat and try to dive out of the left side of the cockpit I'm stuck! What the hell is holding me? Time to do a little thinking...I sit back down. I jam the stick forward with my right foot. Departing the cockpit as she plunges down I feel a bump, but it doesn't hurt. I make a Joke that I have \"ejected\" myself-this before ejection seats were invented!\"\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe spent the next 14 months in Stalag Luft III at Sagan, and at Moorsburg, where access to an elementary college physics book sparked his interest. On 29 April 1945 Patton's 14th Armored Division liberated him. After the war, he stayed in the newly formed US Air Force as a squadron commander of the first jet-equipped fighter group. He received a BS degree in physics from the University of Florida in 1949, and a MS in physics from Ohio State University in 1950. He attended graduate school at the University of Califomla, Berkeley, where he studied under Edward Teller and received his PhD in physics in 1962.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nWalter Beckham was the founding chief scientist of the Air Force Weapons\nLaboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, near Albuquerque, New Mexico, and continued\nas chief scientist for six years. During this time, he nurtured a tradition of scientific excellence and mentored many young officer-scientists trying to resolve the scientific, political, and moral concerns inherent to nuclear weapons. His principal research interests centered on nuclear weapons and their effects, and later on survivability and vulnerability issues for nuclear weapons.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHe retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1969, and continued as a consultant at\nLawrence Livermore Laboratory, working on various defense-related strategic\nstudies. For his many services, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, the\nSilver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and the Legion of Merit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nAfter retirement he lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife Lorraine and two\nvery spoiled Shetland Sheepdogs. Throughout this time, he often received letters\nfrom Thunderbolt enthusiasts and World War II history buffs, which he always\nanswered. His airplane was painted by the aviation artist Robert St. Vincent \"High\nSpeed, Low Pass,\" and reproductions were printed (the original is on display at\nEdwards AFB.) When Ray Stutsman approached him about painting his own Thunderbolt as \"Little Demon\" he declined and suggested another pilot's aircraft. Mr. Stutsman persisted and my father then suggested a second comrade's plane. Mr. Stutsman remained firm, and my father conceded. In 1985, 44 years after his bail out over enemy territory, he took a ride in the jump seat of the aircraft. The first issue of Thunderbolt Enthusiasts International was dedicated to him. He never bragged about his achievements and often seemed bemused at the attention he received. \"Only do things now that you will be proud of later\" was the one piece of advice he gave his admirers.\nWalter Carl Beckham died of a heart attack on 31 May 1996 in Albuquerque, New\nMexico, and is survived by his wife Lorraine and daughter Melissa.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nVerbatim transcript source:\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nBeckham, Melissa. \u003ci\u003eWalter Carl Beckham Biography, 1996.\u003c/i\u003eManuscript. From Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, \u003ci\u003eWalter Carl Beckham Collection.\u003c/i\u003e(accessed July 12, 2019).\u003c/p\u003e"],"collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"44907cb6c8dead0a23adaa50","title_filing_ssi":"Beckham, Walter Carl Collection","title_ssm":["Walter Carl Beckham collection"],"title_tesim":["Walter Carl Beckham collection"],"ead_ssi":"44907cb6c8dead0a23adaa50","unitdate_ssm":["circa 1941-1996","Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["circa 1941-1996"],"unitdate_other_ssim":["Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"level_ssm":["collection"],"level_ssim":["Collection"],"unitid_ssm":["19.0013","/repositories/10/resources/1443"],"text":["19.0013","/repositories/10/resources/1443","Walter Carl Beckham collection, circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27","World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Europe","United States. Army Air Forces. Bomber Command, 8th","Thunderbolt (Fighter plane)","This collection is open to all researchers.","Walter Carl Beckham was born on May 12, 1916 in Paxton, Florida, the youngest of\nthree brothers. He was a war hero, a scientist, and a sentimental man who recited\nYeats. He possessed a clear code of honor, a marvelous sense of humour, and an\nenterprising and creative spirit. As a young boy during the Depression in DePuniak\nSprings, Florida, he transformed his paper route with a fleet of old bicycles that he\nrepaired and then provided as an incentive to other boys, who ran additional routes\nunder his direction. \nWhen the United States entered World War II, he felt he would be better off in the air\ninstead of on the ground, and so he tried to enlist. When the Army Air Corps refused\nhim for being underweight, he resolved the problem at a second interview by\nslumping down, and as a \"shorter\" man,\" fulfilled the USAAC's height and weight\nrequirements. Although he had not attended college, he passed the college\ngraduation exam (and won his bus fare back home in a dice game.) \nHe went through flight training at Americus, Georgia, and graduated with the Aviation\nCadet Class of 41-1. During one check ride, he was told to \"spin it\" even with the\nground rapidly approaching, he thought it proper for the check pilot to direct him to\nrecover. He suspected it might be a test to see if he would \"chicken out.\" At a very\nlow altitude the check pilot disproved this theory by grabbing the controls to recover, shouting \"Are you trying to kill us?\"  \nHe was assigned to the Curtiss P-36 \"Hawk,\" which he later referred to as the best he had ever flown. He also flew the Curtiss P-40, and eventually the new Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. After a tour in the Canal Zone and Ecuador, he was sent to Europe\nin 1943, in charge of the newly formed 351st Fighter Squadron under the group's command of Lt Colonel Glenn E. Duncan. When it came time to name his aircraft, a P-47 Thunderbolt, he chose \"Little Demon,\" a character from Al Capp's \"Lil\" Abner\" comic strip. \nHis squadron was part of the 353rd Fighter Group, and their responsibilities included escort and fighter sweep duties, ground support and dive-bombing. The only dive-bombing training the pilots had undergone had been stateside with the P-40, a completely different task. Having flown both airplanes, my father understood the problem and approached Colonel Duncan with some new theories. The two gentlemen devised a set of techniques that were used until the end of the war. They entered combat on August 12,1943. \nOn September 23,1943, Walter Beckham brought down his first enemy aircraft, a\nFocke-Wulf 190 near Nantes, France. Many of his subsequent victories were scored\nin doubles and in one case a triple. On October 10, 1943, on an escort mission to\nMunster, he destroyed three twin-engine German aircraft. The third hit depleted his\nammunition, and when another ME-110 came towards him \"...I turned sharply toward\nhim and he broke violently, evading my P-47 with empty guns.\" A growing number of\nswastikas joined the bright yellow \"Little Demon\" artwork under the canopy.\n \nHe was shot down on February 22,1944 while attacking parked FW 190s on a base\nat Ostheim, Germany. This was during \"Big Week,\" the all out attack against the\nGerman aircraft industry. At the time he was America's leading ace in the European\nTheatre with eighteen German air victories in six months of combat. He had flown 56\nmissions, although, with a mathematician's precision, he counted 5614. His lifetime\nfriend Claude Jenkins remembers seeing the news of his last mission in Time\nMagazine, with his quote to a wingmate: \"Take the boys home, George, I've been\nhit!\" \"... I was hit by something when I was still at 4-5,000 feet altitude - long before I began firing... Smoke is belching from my engine. But It still runs, I cut off the fuel - coasting - no help. Woods are northward, England is westward. I am in no trouble if my engine keeps running, and I ask my friends to proceed on home. I unfasten the seat and shoulder belts and run the canopy back. I'm hoping for the smoke to go\naway, while ready to bail out fast Where there's smoke there's fire? Whoever said\nthat is damned right...I'm down well under a thousand feet. There's no question\nabout what to do. Let's do it. I stand up in the seat and try to dive out of the left side of the cockpit I'm stuck! What the hell is holding me? Time to do a little thinking...I sit back down. I jam the stick forward with my right foot. Departing the cockpit as she plunges down I feel a bump, but it doesn't hurt. I make a Joke that I have \"ejected\" myself-this before ejection seats were invented!\"\n He spent the next 14 months in Stalag Luft III at Sagan, and at Moorsburg, where access to an elementary college physics book sparked his interest. On 29 April 1945 Patton's 14th Armored Division liberated him. After the war, he stayed in the newly formed US Air Force as a squadron commander of the first jet-equipped fighter group. He received a BS degree in physics from the University of Florida in 1949, and a MS in physics from Ohio State University in 1950. He attended graduate school at the University of Califomla, Berkeley, where he studied under Edward Teller and received his PhD in physics in 1962. \nWalter Beckham was the founding chief scientist of the Air Force Weapons\nLaboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, near Albuquerque, New Mexico, and continued\nas chief scientist for six years. During this time, he nurtured a tradition of scientific excellence and mentored many young officer-scientists trying to resolve the scientific, political, and moral concerns inherent to nuclear weapons. His principal research interests centered on nuclear weapons and their effects, and later on survivability and vulnerability issues for nuclear weapons. \nHe retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1969, and continued as a consultant at\nLawrence Livermore Laboratory, working on various defense-related strategic\nstudies. For his many services, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, the\nSilver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and the Legion of Merit. \nAfter retirement he lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife Lorraine and two\nvery spoiled Shetland Sheepdogs. Throughout this time, he often received letters\nfrom Thunderbolt enthusiasts and World War II history buffs, which he always\nanswered. His airplane was painted by the aviation artist Robert St. Vincent \"High\nSpeed, Low Pass,\" and reproductions were printed (the original is on display at\nEdwards AFB.) When Ray Stutsman approached him about painting his own Thunderbolt as \"Little Demon\" he declined and suggested another pilot's aircraft. Mr. Stutsman persisted and my father then suggested a second comrade's plane. Mr. Stutsman remained firm, and my father conceded. In 1985, 44 years after his bail out over enemy territory, he took a ride in the jump seat of the aircraft. The first issue of Thunderbolt Enthusiasts International was dedicated to him. He never bragged about his achievements and often seemed bemused at the attention he received. \"Only do things now that you will be proud of later\" was the one piece of advice he gave his admirers.\nWalter Carl Beckham died of a heart attack on 31 May 1996 in Albuquerque, New\nMexico, and is survived by his wife Lorraine and daughter Melissa. \nVerbatim transcript source:\n \nBeckham, Melissa.  Walter Carl Beckham Biography, 1996. Manuscript. From Institute on World War II and the Human Experience,  Walter Carl Beckham Collection. (accessed July 12, 2019).","Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections \u0026 Archives in July 2022.","This collection relates to Colonel Walter Carl Beckham who served with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a P-47 fighter pilot with the 353rd Fighter Group in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. He was credited 18 aerial victories. He was shot down and subsequently became a German Prisoner of War. He was the recipient of the Distingquished Service Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Air Medal, and Legion of Merit. This collection contains Beckham's medals, badges, pins, photographs, veteran's items, and newspaper articles.","All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections \u0026 Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.","FSU Special Collections \u0026 Archives","United States. Army Air Forces. Fighter Group, 353rd","Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham","English"],"unitid_tesim":["19.0013","/repositories/10/resources/1443"],"normalized_date_ssm":["circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Walter Carl Beckham collection, circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"collection_title_tesim":["Walter Carl Beckham collection, circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"collection_ssim":["Walter Carl Beckham collection, circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27"],"repository_ssm":["FSU Special Collections \u0026 Archives"],"repository_ssim":["FSU Special Collections \u0026 Archives"],"creator_ssm":["Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"creator_ssim":["Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"creator_persname_ssim":["Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"creators_ssim":["Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"access_terms_ssm":["All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections \u0026 Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher."],"acqinfo_ssim":["This collection was donated by Joseph C. Beckham who is the nephew of Walter Carl Beckham."],"access_subjects_ssim":["World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Europe","United States. Army Air Forces. Bomber Command, 8th","Thunderbolt (Fighter plane)"],"access_subjects_ssm":["World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Europe","United States. Army Air Forces. Bomber Command, 8th","Thunderbolt (Fighter plane)"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"extent_ssm":[".5 Linear Feet 1 half box"],"extent_tesim":[".5 Linear Feet 1 half box"],"date_range_isim":[1941,1942,1943,1944,1945,1946,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952,1953,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959,1960,1961,1962,1963,1964,1965,1966,1967,1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996],"accessrestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection is open to all researchers.\u003c/p\u003e"],"accessrestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Access"],"accessrestrict_tesim":["This collection is open to all researchers."],"bioghist_heading_ssm":["Biographical / Historical"],"bioghist_tesim":["Walter Carl Beckham was born on May 12, 1916 in Paxton, Florida, the youngest of\nthree brothers. He was a war hero, a scientist, and a sentimental man who recited\nYeats. He possessed a clear code of honor, a marvelous sense of humour, and an\nenterprising and creative spirit. As a young boy during the Depression in DePuniak\nSprings, Florida, he transformed his paper route with a fleet of old bicycles that he\nrepaired and then provided as an incentive to other boys, who ran additional routes\nunder his direction. \nWhen the United States entered World War II, he felt he would be better off in the air\ninstead of on the ground, and so he tried to enlist. When the Army Air Corps refused\nhim for being underweight, he resolved the problem at a second interview by\nslumping down, and as a \"shorter\" man,\" fulfilled the USAAC's height and weight\nrequirements. Although he had not attended college, he passed the college\ngraduation exam (and won his bus fare back home in a dice game.) \nHe went through flight training at Americus, Georgia, and graduated with the Aviation\nCadet Class of 41-1. During one check ride, he was told to \"spin it\" even with the\nground rapidly approaching, he thought it proper for the check pilot to direct him to\nrecover. He suspected it might be a test to see if he would \"chicken out.\" At a very\nlow altitude the check pilot disproved this theory by grabbing the controls to recover, shouting \"Are you trying to kill us?\"  \nHe was assigned to the Curtiss P-36 \"Hawk,\" which he later referred to as the best he had ever flown. He also flew the Curtiss P-40, and eventually the new Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. After a tour in the Canal Zone and Ecuador, he was sent to Europe\nin 1943, in charge of the newly formed 351st Fighter Squadron under the group's command of Lt Colonel Glenn E. Duncan. When it came time to name his aircraft, a P-47 Thunderbolt, he chose \"Little Demon,\" a character from Al Capp's \"Lil\" Abner\" comic strip. \nHis squadron was part of the 353rd Fighter Group, and their responsibilities included escort and fighter sweep duties, ground support and dive-bombing. The only dive-bombing training the pilots had undergone had been stateside with the P-40, a completely different task. Having flown both airplanes, my father understood the problem and approached Colonel Duncan with some new theories. The two gentlemen devised a set of techniques that were used until the end of the war. They entered combat on August 12,1943. \nOn September 23,1943, Walter Beckham brought down his first enemy aircraft, a\nFocke-Wulf 190 near Nantes, France. Many of his subsequent victories were scored\nin doubles and in one case a triple. On October 10, 1943, on an escort mission to\nMunster, he destroyed three twin-engine German aircraft. The third hit depleted his\nammunition, and when another ME-110 came towards him \"...I turned sharply toward\nhim and he broke violently, evading my P-47 with empty guns.\" A growing number of\nswastikas joined the bright yellow \"Little Demon\" artwork under the canopy.\n \nHe was shot down on February 22,1944 while attacking parked FW 190s on a base\nat Ostheim, Germany. This was during \"Big Week,\" the all out attack against the\nGerman aircraft industry. At the time he was America's leading ace in the European\nTheatre with eighteen German air victories in six months of combat. He had flown 56\nmissions, although, with a mathematician's precision, he counted 5614. His lifetime\nfriend Claude Jenkins remembers seeing the news of his last mission in Time\nMagazine, with his quote to a wingmate: \"Take the boys home, George, I've been\nhit!\" \"... I was hit by something when I was still at 4-5,000 feet altitude - long before I began firing... Smoke is belching from my engine. But It still runs, I cut off the fuel - coasting - no help. Woods are northward, England is westward. I am in no trouble if my engine keeps running, and I ask my friends to proceed on home. I unfasten the seat and shoulder belts and run the canopy back. I'm hoping for the smoke to go\naway, while ready to bail out fast Where there's smoke there's fire? Whoever said\nthat is damned right...I'm down well under a thousand feet. There's no question\nabout what to do. Let's do it. I stand up in the seat and try to dive out of the left side of the cockpit I'm stuck! What the hell is holding me? Time to do a little thinking...I sit back down. I jam the stick forward with my right foot. Departing the cockpit as she plunges down I feel a bump, but it doesn't hurt. I make a Joke that I have \"ejected\" myself-this before ejection seats were invented!\"\n He spent the next 14 months in Stalag Luft III at Sagan, and at Moorsburg, where access to an elementary college physics book sparked his interest. On 29 April 1945 Patton's 14th Armored Division liberated him. After the war, he stayed in the newly formed US Air Force as a squadron commander of the first jet-equipped fighter group. He received a BS degree in physics from the University of Florida in 1949, and a MS in physics from Ohio State University in 1950. He attended graduate school at the University of Califomla, Berkeley, where he studied under Edward Teller and received his PhD in physics in 1962. \nWalter Beckham was the founding chief scientist of the Air Force Weapons\nLaboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, near Albuquerque, New Mexico, and continued\nas chief scientist for six years. During this time, he nurtured a tradition of scientific excellence and mentored many young officer-scientists trying to resolve the scientific, political, and moral concerns inherent to nuclear weapons. His principal research interests centered on nuclear weapons and their effects, and later on survivability and vulnerability issues for nuclear weapons. \nHe retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1969, and continued as a consultant at\nLawrence Livermore Laboratory, working on various defense-related strategic\nstudies. For his many services, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, the\nSilver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and the Legion of Merit. \nAfter retirement he lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife Lorraine and two\nvery spoiled Shetland Sheepdogs. Throughout this time, he often received letters\nfrom Thunderbolt enthusiasts and World War II history buffs, which he always\nanswered. His airplane was painted by the aviation artist Robert St. Vincent \"High\nSpeed, Low Pass,\" and reproductions were printed (the original is on display at\nEdwards AFB.) When Ray Stutsman approached him about painting his own Thunderbolt as \"Little Demon\" he declined and suggested another pilot's aircraft. Mr. Stutsman persisted and my father then suggested a second comrade's plane. Mr. Stutsman remained firm, and my father conceded. In 1985, 44 years after his bail out over enemy territory, he took a ride in the jump seat of the aircraft. The first issue of Thunderbolt Enthusiasts International was dedicated to him. He never bragged about his achievements and often seemed bemused at the attention he received. \"Only do things now that you will be proud of later\" was the one piece of advice he gave his admirers.\nWalter Carl Beckham died of a heart attack on 31 May 1996 in Albuquerque, New\nMexico, and is survived by his wife Lorraine and daughter Melissa. \nVerbatim transcript source:\n \nBeckham, Melissa.  Walter Carl Beckham Biography, 1996. Manuscript. From Institute on World War II and the Human Experience,  Walter Carl Beckham Collection. (accessed July 12, 2019)."],"custodhist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eTransferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections \u0026amp; Archives in July 2022.\u003c/p\u003e"],"custodhist_heading_ssm":["Custodial History"],"custodhist_tesim":["Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections \u0026 Archives in July 2022."],"prefercite_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003e[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Walter Carl Beckham collection, Special Collections \u0026amp; Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. \u003cextref href=\"http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_19_0013\"\u003ehttp://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_19_0013\u003c/extref\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"],"prefercite_tesim":["[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Walter Carl Beckham collection, Special Collections \u0026 Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida.  http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_19_0013"],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThis collection relates to Colonel Walter Carl Beckham who served with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a P-47 fighter pilot with the 353rd Fighter Group in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. He was credited 18 aerial victories. He was shot down and subsequently became a German Prisoner of War. He was the recipient of the Distingquished Service Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Air Medal, and Legion of Merit. This collection contains Beckham's medals, badges, pins, photographs, veteran's items, and newspaper articles.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Content Description"],"scopecontent_tesim":["This collection relates to Colonel Walter Carl Beckham who served with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a P-47 fighter pilot with the 353rd Fighter Group in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. He was credited 18 aerial victories. He was shot down and subsequently became a German Prisoner of War. He was the recipient of the Distingquished Service Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Air Medal, and Legion of Merit. This collection contains Beckham's medals, badges, pins, photographs, veteran's items, and newspaper articles."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eAll requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections \u0026amp; Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.\u003c/p\u003e"],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Use"],"userestrict_tesim":["All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections \u0026 Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher."],"names_coll_ssim":["United States. Army Air Forces. Fighter Group, 353rd","Joseph C. Beckham"],"names_ssim":["FSU Special Collections \u0026 Archives","United States. Army Air Forces. Fighter Group, 353rd","Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"corpname_ssim":["FSU Special Collections \u0026 Archives","United States. Army Air Forces. Fighter Group, 353rd"],"persname_ssim":["Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","Joseph C. Beckham"],"language_ssim":["English"],"descrules_ssm":["Describing Archives: A Content Standard"],"total_component_count_is":17,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"_root_":"44907cb6c8dead0a23adaa50","timestamp":"2026-04-21T05:17:53.647Z","bioghist_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eWalter Carl Beckham was born on May 12, 1916 in Paxton, Florida, the youngest of\nthree brothers. He was a war hero, a scientist, and a sentimental man who recited\nYeats. He possessed a clear code of honor, a marvelous sense of humour, and an\nenterprising and creative spirit. As a young boy during the Depression in DePuniak\nSprings, Florida, he transformed his paper route with a fleet of old bicycles that he\nrepaired and then provided as an incentive to other boys, who ran additional routes\nunder his direction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nWhen the United States entered World War II, he felt he would be better off in the air\ninstead of on the ground, and so he tried to enlist. When the Army Air Corps refused\nhim for being underweight, he resolved the problem at a second interview by\nslumping down, and as a \"shorter\" man,\" fulfilled the USAAC's height and weight\nrequirements. Although he had not attended college, he passed the college\ngraduation exam (and won his bus fare back home in a dice game.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHe went through flight training at Americus, Georgia, and graduated with the Aviation\nCadet Class of 41-1. During one check ride, he was told to \"spin it\" even with the\nground rapidly approaching, he thought it proper for the check pilot to direct him to\nrecover. He suspected it might be a test to see if he would \"chicken out.\" At a very\nlow altitude the check pilot disproved this theory by grabbing the controls to recover, shouting \"Are you trying to kill us?\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHe was assigned to the Curtiss P-36 \"Hawk,\" which he later referred to as the best he had ever flown. He also flew the Curtiss P-40, and eventually the new Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. After a tour in the Canal Zone and Ecuador, he was sent to Europe\nin 1943, in charge of the newly formed 351st Fighter Squadron under the group's command of Lt Colonel Glenn E. Duncan. When it came time to name his aircraft, a P-47 Thunderbolt, he chose \"Little Demon,\" a character from Al Capp's \"Lil\" Abner\" comic strip.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHis squadron was part of the 353rd Fighter Group, and their responsibilities included escort and fighter sweep duties, ground support and dive-bombing. The only dive-bombing training the pilots had undergone had been stateside with the P-40, a completely different task. Having flown both airplanes, my father understood the problem and approached Colonel Duncan with some new theories. The two gentlemen devised a set of techniques that were used until the end of the war. They entered combat on August 12,1943.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nOn September 23,1943, Walter Beckham brought down his first enemy aircraft, a\nFocke-Wulf 190 near Nantes, France. Many of his subsequent victories were scored\nin doubles and in one case a triple. On October 10, 1943, on an escort mission to\nMunster, he destroyed three twin-engine German aircraft. The third hit depleted his\nammunition, and when another ME-110 came towards him \"...I turned sharply toward\nhim and he broke violently, evading my P-47 with empty guns.\" A growing number of\nswastikas joined the bright yellow \"Little Demon\" artwork under the canopy.\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHe was shot down on February 22,1944 while attacking parked FW 190s on a base\nat Ostheim, Germany. This was during \"Big Week,\" the all out attack against the\nGerman aircraft industry. At the time he was America's leading ace in the European\nTheatre with eighteen German air victories in six months of combat. He had flown 56\nmissions, although, with a mathematician's precision, he counted 5614. His lifetime\nfriend Claude Jenkins remembers seeing the news of his last mission in Time\nMagazine, with his quote to a wingmate: \"Take the boys home, George, I've been\nhit!\" \"... I was hit by something when I was still at 4-5,000 feet altitude - long before I began firing... Smoke is belching from my engine. But It still runs, I cut off the fuel - coasting - no help. Woods are northward, England is westward. I am in no trouble if my engine keeps running, and I ask my friends to proceed on home. I unfasten the seat and shoulder belts and run the canopy back. I'm hoping for the smoke to go\naway, while ready to bail out fast Where there's smoke there's fire? Whoever said\nthat is damned right...I'm down well under a thousand feet. There's no question\nabout what to do. Let's do it. I stand up in the seat and try to dive out of the left side of the cockpit I'm stuck! What the hell is holding me? Time to do a little thinking...I sit back down. I jam the stick forward with my right foot. Departing the cockpit as she plunges down I feel a bump, but it doesn't hurt. I make a Joke that I have \"ejected\" myself-this before ejection seats were invented!\"\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe spent the next 14 months in Stalag Luft III at Sagan, and at Moorsburg, where access to an elementary college physics book sparked his interest. On 29 April 1945 Patton's 14th Armored Division liberated him. After the war, he stayed in the newly formed US Air Force as a squadron commander of the first jet-equipped fighter group. He received a BS degree in physics from the University of Florida in 1949, and a MS in physics from Ohio State University in 1950. He attended graduate school at the University of Califomla, Berkeley, where he studied under Edward Teller and received his PhD in physics in 1962.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nWalter Beckham was the founding chief scientist of the Air Force Weapons\nLaboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, near Albuquerque, New Mexico, and continued\nas chief scientist for six years. During this time, he nurtured a tradition of scientific excellence and mentored many young officer-scientists trying to resolve the scientific, political, and moral concerns inherent to nuclear weapons. His principal research interests centered on nuclear weapons and their effects, and later on survivability and vulnerability issues for nuclear weapons.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nHe retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1969, and continued as a consultant at\nLawrence Livermore Laboratory, working on various defense-related strategic\nstudies. For his many services, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, the\nSilver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, and the Legion of Merit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nAfter retirement he lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife Lorraine and two\nvery spoiled Shetland Sheepdogs. Throughout this time, he often received letters\nfrom Thunderbolt enthusiasts and World War II history buffs, which he always\nanswered. His airplane was painted by the aviation artist Robert St. Vincent \"High\nSpeed, Low Pass,\" and reproductions were printed (the original is on display at\nEdwards AFB.) When Ray Stutsman approached him about painting his own Thunderbolt as \"Little Demon\" he declined and suggested another pilot's aircraft. Mr. Stutsman persisted and my father then suggested a second comrade's plane. Mr. Stutsman remained firm, and my father conceded. In 1985, 44 years after his bail out over enemy territory, he took a ride in the jump seat of the aircraft. The first issue of Thunderbolt Enthusiasts International was dedicated to him. He never bragged about his achievements and often seemed bemused at the attention he received. \"Only do things now that you will be proud of later\" was the one piece of advice he gave his admirers.\nWalter Carl Beckham died of a heart attack on 31 May 1996 in Albuquerque, New\nMexico, and is survived by his wife Lorraine and daughter Melissa.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nVerbatim transcript source:\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nBeckham, Melissa. \u003ci\u003eWalter Carl Beckham Biography, 1996.\u003c/i\u003eManuscript. From Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, \u003ci\u003eWalter Carl Beckham Collection.\u003c/i\u003e(accessed July 12, 2019).\u003c/p\u003e"]}]}}],"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://flvc.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/44907cb6c8dead0a23adaa50"}}],"included":[{"type":"facet","id":"collection_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Collection","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Walter Carl Beckham collection, circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27","value":"Walter Carl Beckham collection, circa 1941-1996, Date accessioned: 2019-06-27","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://flvc.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Walter+Carl+Beckham+collection%2C+circa+1941-1996%2C+Date+accessioned%3A+2019-06-27\u0026f%5Bnames%5D%5B%5D=Joseph+C.+Beckham"}}]},"links":{"self":"https://flvc.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog/facet/collection_ssim.json?f%5Bnames%5D%5B%5D=Joseph+C.+Beckham"}},{"type":"facet","id":"creator_ssim","attributes":{"label":"Creator","items":[{"attributes":{"label":"Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","value":"Beckham, Walter Carl, 1916-1996","hits":1},"links":{"self":"https://flvc.lyrasistechnology.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcreators%5D%5B%5D=Beckham%2C+Walter+Carl%2C+1916-1996\u0026f%5Bnames%5D%5B%5D=Joseph+C.+Beckham"}},{"attributes":{"label":"Joseph C. 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