East Boston Airport – May 30, 1933

East Boston Airport – May 30, 1933

     On May 30, 1933, J. Oliver Beebe, 38, was taking flying lessons at East Boston Airport.  Three times that morning he flew with an instructor who supervised his landing techniques.  After three perfect landings, the instructor allowed Beebe to solo.  After two perfect landings, Beebe took off to circle the airport for another.  As he was approaching for the third landing, he overshot the runway and drifted out over the mud flats at the north end of the field.  He then banked the plane to turn around, and as he did so it suddenly fell from an altitude of 200 feet and dove nose first into the mud.  It took considerable time for rescuers to extricate Beebe from the wreckage.  He did not survive.

     Mr. Beebe graduated from Harvard University in 1916, and served with a French medical unit during World War I before the United States entered the war.  He then transferred to the U.S. 26th Infantry Division and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

     He was one of the first Americans to be awarded the French Croix de Gueere medal.  Other awards included citations from two French infantry divisions. 

     He was survived by his wife Alice, and their two children, and is buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

     Sources:

     New York Times, “J. O. Beebe Killed In Plane Crash”, May 31, 1933

     www.findagrave.com

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