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Lt. L. C. Beck Jr.
Levitt Clinton Beck, Jr. (January 2, 1920 - October 31, 1944) was an American pilot in the U.S. Air Corps during World War II.
Born in Houston, Texas, to Levitt Clinton Beck, Sr. and Verne E. Beck...view moreLevitt Clinton Beck, Jr. (January 2, 1920 - October 31, 1944) was an American pilot in the U.S. Air Corps during World War II.
Born in Houston, Texas, to Levitt Clinton Beck, Sr. and Verne E. Beck, following his brother Floyd Meredith’s death, the family moved to Huntington Park, California in 1932, where he graduated from Huntington Park High. He then attended Los Angeles City College (LACC) for a year and a half before studying at the University of California in Santa Barbara.
During World War II, on March 23, 1942, he enlisted as a Private in the Air Corps at March Field, California, training as a Pilot. He graduated on November 30, 1942 and was sent to Luke Field, Phoenix, Arizona for advanced flying. He was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant on November 9, 1943, and a week later reported to Congaree A.A.F. near Columbia, South Carolina.
Following a period of mission training and preparation for overseas movement, he departed for overseas service as a pilot with the 406th Fighter Group/514th Fighter Squadron (9th AF), at the time stationed in Ashford, Kent, England.
Lt. Beck was shot down near Havelu, Eure-et-Loir, France on 29 June 1944 on an Armed Reconnaissance mission to the Mantes-la-Jolie/Gassicourt area. Although he initially managed to evade capture, he was eventually taken prisoner and, together with more than 167 other Allied airmen, was on a convoy that left Paris on August 18, 1944. He was interned at the Buchenwald concentration camp on August 20, 1944, where he became ill from maltreatment and undernourishment and died of “Lungentuberculosis” (phthisis; pulmonary consumption) in the camp hospital on October 31, 1944, aged 24.
His remains were never found and he continues to be listed as MIA (Missing in Action). He is believed to have been cremated in Buchenwald the day following his death. He memorialized at the Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg City, Great-Duchy of Luxemburg.view less