Ensign Robert W. "Bobbie" Beedle (USN)

Robert W. "Bobbie" Beedle, was a Navy fighter pilot who was killed in action in World War II, on January 5, 1945. His brother was actor William Holden.

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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