Paul W. Beck
Paul Ward Beck | |
---|---|
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US | |
Buried | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | Infantry, United States Army Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps Air Service, United States Army |
Years of service | 1899–1922 |
Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
Commands held | Commandant, A.S. Observation School, Henry Post Field, Oklahoma |
Battles/wars | Philippine–American War World War I |
Paul Ward Beck (1 December 1876 – 4 April 1922) was an officer in the
The son of a cavalry officer, Beck developed an interest in aviation while detached to service with the
Following service as a
He was killed by a gunshot to the head during an evening with friends. The shooting was a disputed mystery, with friends, colleagues, the county attorney and an Army investigating board suspecting that Beck was murdered for being caught in flagrante delicto with the wife of a friend, possibly with premeditation by an already–suspicious husband. However the shooter, a well–known former judge on the Oklahoma Supreme Court, contended that the shooting was an accident during an act of self–defense after Beck had allegedly tried to sexually assault the shooter's wife in their home. The judge was exonerated by a coroner's jury.
Biography and military career
Beck was born to 1st Lt. William Henry Beck and Rachel Wyatt Elizabeth Tongate on 1 December 1876 at
Beck married Ruth Evelyn Everett of
Paul Beck was commissioned a
He subsequently attended the
Beck was recalled from his aviation assignment to the Infantry on 1 May 1912 under requirements of the so-called "Manchu Law"[n 1] and assigned to the 17th Infantry at Fort McPherson, Georgia, with temporary duty on the Mexican border at Eagle Pass, Texas. Eighteen months later, on 1 October 1914, he transferred to the Far East as a company commander with the 15th Infantry.[n 2] After the United States entered World War I, Beck received temporary promotions to major and to lieutenant colonel on 5 August 1917, the latter with the 31st Infantry. On 28 August 1917 Beck received permanent establishment promotion to major, Infantry.[3]
Beck transferred to Camp Fremont, California, and on 9 April 1918 became the lieutenant colonel of the 12th Infantry, training for combat in Europe as part of the 8th Division. On 5 October 1918 Beck accepted his highest career rank, that of colonel (temporary, Infantry),[3] to become military attaché at the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, 1918–1920.[5] On 20 April 1920 the temporary commission to colonel was honorably discharged and Beck reverted to his permanent grade of major.[3]
Beck's permanent promotion to lieutenant colonel, Infantry, came on 1 July 1920, the effective date of the National Defense Act of 1920 (also known as the Army Reorganization Act), which also made the
Pioneer aviator
After completing the Signal Corps School in 1906, Beck was detached on 2 February 1907 for commissioning and service in that branch with assignment to duty at the Benicia Barracks in California. Between 10 and 20 January 1910, he was assigned to observe the 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field in California for the army.[6] On January 14, 1911, Glenn Curtiss made an unsuccessful attempt to take Lt. Beck on a bombing demonstration during this event. The plan was for Beck to drop a bag of ammunition from an altitude of 250 ft into a measured space to show that it was possible to use an airplane to drop bombs into gun pits during a time of war. Engine trouble precluded a successful demonstration that day, however.[7] On 19 January he went up in a Farman III biplane flown by renowned French aviator Louis Paulhan to drop two-pound sandbags in a demonstration of the feasibility of aerial bombing. Using an improvised bombsight of Beck's design, they made three drops from 250 feet (76 m) at 40 mph (64 km/h). The drops were highly inaccurate because the bombsight was adjusted for a much higher speed, but the concept was shown to be sound.[8][9]
On 29 November 1910 two second lieutenants, George E. M. Kelly of the 30th Infantry at the Presidio of San Francisco and John C. Walker, Jr. of the 8th Infantry at Fort Ord, received orders to attend the Curtiss Flying School expected to open in January 1911 on North Island at San Diego, to learn to fly and train to become instructors.[10] At the same time the commanding general of the Western Division assigned Beck to organize and act as secretary for the International Air Meet taking place at Selfridge Field on the grounds of the Tanforan Racetrack in San Francisco, where Kelly and Walker also participated.
Kelly's 30th Infantry provided a battalion to support military applications tested during the meet, building an encampment on the site as a subject for aerial photography, and maneuvering to avoid detection by aerial reconnaissance. On 15 January an officer in the
Of his experiment, Beck wrote:
The set used was a rough, makeshift affair, weighing thirty-two pounds. It consisted of a small spark-gap and interrupter, an ordinary telegraph-key, a small storage cell and a by-path or shunt to prevent overcharging the cell. All of these were combined in a wooden box which was carried on my lap. For aerial we used one hundred and twenty feet of phosphor-bronze wire, stranded, dependent from the tail of the aeroplane and connected with the sending apparatus by a number sixteen copper insulated wire. For conductive ground we simply connected the other side of the sending apparatus to one of the stay wires of the aeroplane. It took us about ten minutes to fit the outfit to the aeroplane. The wave-length measured by the wave-meter at the receiving station was 575 meters in length. This is rather longer than we had thought it would be.[13]
After the conclusion of the meet Beck also volunteered for pilot training, and was sent with Kelly and Walker to San Diego.
In Texas the three joined 1st Lt.
The Army received two new airplanes at Fort Sam Houston on April 20, a
On 3 May 1911 Beck crashed S.C. No. 2 after its engine failed at 300 feet. Kelly, who had arrived in Texas a week after the others and was behind in his training, took the machine up a week later after its repair and was killed minutes into his qualification flight trying to land. Foulois blamed Beck for improper repairs to the craft, and also questioned his ability to command. However the investigating board, of which both Foulois and Beck were members, ruled that Kelly's death resulted from landing at too high a speed and striking the ground with a wingtip when he attempted a turn.[17] In any event, the army shut down all aviation training at Fort Sam Houston and sent personnel and airplanes to College Park, Maryland, where its first aviation school was about to commence. Beck was ordered there as the instructor on the Curtiss machine on 15 June 1911, but Foulois remained on duty with the Maneuver Division until 11 July, when he was reassigned to the Militia Bureau in Washington D.C.[12]
Until that point the army had not set down any regulations or standards for qualifying as a pilot. In July 1911 it adopted the licensing requirements of the
On November 28, 1911, the aviation school relocated from College Park to Augusta, Georgia, for the winter; Beck's father died two days before the move and he remained in Washington, D.C. until January. When he rejoined the school, he immediately began training in the Wright machines, with 2nd Lt. Henry H. "Hap" Arnold as his instructor. He experienced two accidents flying S.C. No. 6, a second Curtiss machine acquired on July 27, 1911. On February 4, 1912, while taking off from Augusta, wind shear drove the airplane into a tree, shearing off the right wings. After the aircraft was repaired, he took it up on March 2 for a test flight and the engine failed at 300 feet, as had happened in Texas the year before. Attempting to glide back into the field, the bottom of the craft struck a treetop but he landed safely.[20]
During his command of the provisional aero company, Beck came into conflict with superiors in the Signal Corps, which may have been a factor in the Army's decision to invoke the "Manchu Law" on 1 May 1912 and return him to his "arm of service," the Infantry.[11][n 11]
Independent air arm advocate
Beck was a regular if not prolific author of professionally related articles. The editors of
In February 1913, Representative James Hay (Democrat-Virginia), a gadfly of the traditional Army and a persistent opponent of the "Manchu Law," introduced a bill intended to establish a semi-autonomous "Air Corps," whose provisions included many of those advocated by Beck. The bill died, but the inclusion of many of its elements in the 1913 appropriations bill encouraged Hay to offer a revision in May, HR5304. The House Committee on Military Affairs held hearings in August 1913. Beck appeared to testify on behalf of the bill, the only officer to do so, repeating his views on military applications for the airplane. Appearing for the opposite view, among others, were Major William L. "Billy" Mitchell representing the General Staff, and Foulois and Arnold representing the Signal Corps, all of whom within six years became staunch advocates for an independent Air Force. Opposition in general held that the creation of an "Air Corps" independent of the Signal Corps was premature given the primitive development of military aviation to that time, while Beck argued that keeping aviation within the Signal Corps would stifle the very development needed. The original bill had its language expunged following the hearings and was rewritten to include some of the provisions while keeping aviation in the Signal Corps. The revised bill passed and became the enabling legislation for the Aviation Section, Signal Corps.[23][n 12]
Leading the opposition to the bill was the acting Chief Signal Officer, Col. George P. Scriven. During his testimony he characterized the aviators advocating creation of an Air Corps as lacking in scientific knowledge and mature judgment, and aviation as "merely" an auxiliary means of communications to that already existing in the Signal Corps. Beck's testimony retorted that any Signal Corps claim to having technical knowledge about aviation was "a gigantic bluff," for which Scriven initiated disciplinary action against Beck but did not follow through.[24][n 13]
Death
Following his graduation from additional pilot training, Beck and his family were assigned to Henry Post Field as commandant of the Air Service Observation School.
Beck's wife died on July 22, 1921, and afterward he lived in quarters at Fort Sill with his mother. Beck was friends with prominent oilman Jean P. Day (1877–1964), a retired member of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, and his wife Aubie. On April 3, 1922, Beck flew to Oklahoma City to visit the Days, intending to stay the night with them. They had dinner at the ornate Skirvin Hotel, with plans to go to the theater together afterward. Day, however, went to meet business associates, leaving Beck and Mrs. Day to attend the theater alone. They were to pick up Day at the hotel but instead met up with Day's business associates and their wives. They returned with the group for a social gathering at the home of one couple. Day was left a note of their whereabouts, joined the group, and at midnight suggested they all go to the Days' residence to continue the party. At approximately 2:00 am Day left his wife alone with Beck while he drove two of the guests home, and was gone approximately thirty minutes.[25][26][27][n 14]
When he returned, Day alleged that he overheard Beck talking loudly and looked in a window to observe Beck struggling with Mrs. Day, and that she later claimed Beck had taken advantage of the opportunity to embrace her against her will and make sexual advances to her. Day stated he went into the house and either because as an army officer Beck might be armed, or because Beck was of an imposing physical stature, immediately went upstairs to obtain a revolver for self-protection. When he came downstairs, Beck appeared to have departed but Day found him hiding behind a partially closed portière. When Beck emerged, Day alleged that he approached him to compel him to leave his home and that Beck drew back his fist. Day claimed that he struck Beck over the head with the barrel of his gun, an old single-action revolver, which accidentally discharged.[11][26]
Beck's skull was severely fractured, either by the blow or the impact of a bullet fragment, raising doubts about what happened. Pieces of his skull were recovered eight feet (2.4 m) from the body.
The coroner's jury, however, chose to believe Day and ruled that he was justified in shooting Beck.[26][28] Mrs. Day corroborated Day's version of events before the confrontation but claimed to have fainted before the homicide took place.[31] Hughes did not file charges against Day, who despite declaring her "my dearest possession" at Beck's inquest, divorced his wife in 1923. The Army ruled that Beck was killed "in the line of duty" and "not due to his own willful misconduct." Secretary of War John W. Weeks endorsed the report on August 22.[32] He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[33]
Notes
- Footnotes
- revolution in Chinaat the same time. In Beck's case, the applicable regulation was Article VI 'Details', Paragraph 40, Regulations for the army of the United States, 1910.
- ^ The 15th Infantry had its 1st and 3rd Battalions stationed in China and its 2nd Battalion in the Philippines. It seems likely Beck was with the 2nd Battalion since that was routinely an accompanied tour (dependents permitted) and he obtained his lieutenant colonelcy in the new 31st Infantry, which was raised and organized in the Philippines.
- ^ Beck was junior only to Billy Mitchell, Col. Chalmers G. Hall, and Col. Theodore A. Baldwin, Jr. Hall was an 1897 graduate of West Point, a cavalryman, and organizer of the four "motor mechanics" regiments of the Air Service after being recalled to active duty from a disability retirement in 1917. He also commanded the 4th Regiment Air Service Mechanics, as they were finally designated. He obtained an airship rating in 1922. Baldwin was an infantry officer who first became a balloonist in 1907 and during World War I commanded the Air Service airfield at Orly, France. He received a balloon observer rating in 1921. Both found themselves marginalized by the airplane-dominated Air Service but did retire as members of the Air Corps.
- ^ The message, composed by AP reporter Guy Moysten, stated: "Scotford is not the only birdman on the committee." (Demers)
- ^ Cameron places the date of the opening of the school as 21 January, before the San Diego Air Meet. (p. 35)
- ^ Also known as the "short hop method," this system progressively taught candidates to steer, take off, land, and turn without actually flying. Students operated the airplane alone with an instructor shouting directions from nearby. They first learned to "get the feel for the machine" by attempting to steer a straight line. The foot throttle was tied back to permit only limited speed, gradually increased to 15 mph (24 km/hr), and at the end of the runway the student had to stop, get out, turn the plane around by lifting the front end, and return. Once they mastered this, the propellers were changed and the throttle adjusted to permit enough power to take off to a height of 10 feet in a series of short hops. When the student demonstrated an ability to take off and land smoothly, the power was further increased and he learned to make ⅛ and ¼ turns. (Hennessy 1958, p. 50 )
- ^ The extent of training they received at San Diego is disputed. Kurutz asserts that they "graduated," but Hennessy states that they were ordered to Texas before they completed training (p. 42), and that Kelly was killed "on his primary pilot qualification flight." (p. 45)
- ^ Beck was senior to Foulois in rank and all other service aspects (commissioned time, Infantry seniority, Signal Corps seniority) except aviation experience.
- ^ Kennedy crashlanded S.C. No 2, the single-seater in which Kelly had been killed, on February 19, 1912. The airplane flipped onto its top, ejecting Kennedy and breaking his back. He recovered but he was out of aeronautics until 1917, when he returned as a balloonist.
- ^ Foulois received the fifth rating. Together with 2nd Lt. Henry H. Arnold, 2nd Lt. Thomas D. Milling, and Capt. Charles DeForest Chandler they became the first five rated pilots in Air Force history. (Hennessy, p.229)
- ^ Apparently when the regulation was applied, the Army ruled that Beck's Signal Corps duty from February 1907 to February 1911 was "detached service" even though he held a Signal Corps commission and had apparently transferred to that branch. Since the subsequent 15 months of duty with aviation between 4 February 1911 and 1 May 1912 were therefore not "with his ... arm of service," he was ruled in violation of the regulation based on its wording of "when at any time ... within the preceding six years." Consequently Beck was "ordered to join [his] arm of service." However a similar situation with Foulois was handled differently. His commission in the Signal Corps was discharged on 29 April 1912 (two days before the Manchu Law was invoked for Beck), making Infantry once again Foulois' "arm of service" too but he was not "ordered to join said ... arm of service." Foulois remained on detached service with the Militia Bureau for another six months and therefore the Army had officially ruled that Foulois had transferred to the Signal Corps between 1908 and 1912. Were this not the case, he would also have been ineligible for further detached service for a period of two years after the discharge of his Signal Corps commission. Yet in November 1913 Foulois was detached a second time to the aviation service after just a year of infantry troop duty, re-confirming that the Army had officially transferred him to the Signal Corps between 1908 and 1912. This contradictory handling of nearly identical circumstances within the same frame of time suggests that the interpretation of the regulation in Beck's case was for the Army's convenience in squelching him.
- ^ Some historians have concluded that Beck, desiring to return to aviation, had personal advancement as a motive, and that he supported Hay in order to become head of the new Air Corps. As chief of a service corps, he would have been advanced to the rank of brigadier general for the term of the appointment. (Dwight R. Messimer, in Demers)
- ^ Scriven became the Chief Signal Officer and a brigadier general later in 1913. His hostility towards Army pilots contributed to a reprimand in 1916 from the Secretary of War following the Goodier court martial and resultant Senate Resolution SJ 65 investigating malfeasance in the Aviation Section.
- ^ Testimony at the inquest, however, claimed that Day left with all the guests, drove one couple home, and then returned to his residence so that an army officer guest, Major Richard Bolles Paddock Jr., an instructor at the Field Artillery school with whom Beck flew up from Fort Sill, could speak with Beck. Day then left again to take the remaining guests home. Paddock was the 30-year-old son of an illustrious retired colonel, a nephew of John J. Pershing, and married with an infant son. His whereabouts during the fatal confrontation were not established in news stories. He was reduced in rank to captain in December 1922 but then promoted again to major in January 1923. (Sherman Daily Democrat, p. 8; Sacramento Union, p. 2; Cullum's Biographical Register Vol. 7, p. 1037)
- Vernon L. Burge, and Captain Roger McCullough.
- ^ The same information apparently reach the Federal Prohibition authorities in Oklahoma, who announced their own investigation into the possibility of "illicit liquor" being consumed at the party the day after the shooting. (NYT, April 5, 1912)
- Citations
- ^ "Death of Mrs. Paul Beck". Lyons Mirror-Sun. Lyons, Nebraska. 28 July 1921. p. 1. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ * "Addenda and Corrections". Woman's Who's Who of America 1914–1915. wikisource. 1915.
- ^ a b c d e f Official Army Register, p. 1106
- ^ a b "The Wireless Telegraph in the U.S. Army Field Work". Overland Monthly. LIII (February). 1909., p. 107
- ^ Official Congressional Directory, p. 382
- ^ "Louis Paulhan (1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field)". California State University, Dominguez Hills. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
- ^ Paulhan Flies to San Pedro and Back. (January 15, 1911). The San Diego Union, p. 1.
- ^ Haulman 2003, p. 5
- ^ a b c d Hennessy 1958, p. 45
- ^ Hennessy 1958, p. 86
- ^ a b c d Demers, Daniel J. (2012). "Pioneer Airman's Tragic Destiny". Aviation History (July). Retrieved 2012-05-30.
- ^ a b Hennessy 1958, p. 47
- ^ Larson, George C. (2011). "Moments and Milestones: Can You Hear Me Now?". Air & Space (March). Retrieved 2012-06-03. Demers, in comments
- ^ Kurutz, Gary F. (1979). "The Only Safe and Sane Method ... The Curtiss School of Aviation". San Diego Historical Society Quarterly. 25 (Winter). Retrieved 2012-05-31.
- ^ Cameron 1999, pp. 38–39
- ^ Pool (1955), p. 360.
- ^ Correll, John T. (2007). "The First of the Force" (PDF). Air Force Magazine. 90 (August). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
- ^ Hennessy 1958, p. 50
- ^ Hennessy 1958, p. 236
- ^ Hennessy 1958, pp. 57–58
- ^ Beck, The Curtiss Aviation Book, pp. 205–218
- ^ McClendon 1996, p. 17
- ^ Greer 1985, pp. 1–2
- ^ McClendon 1996, pp. 16–17, 151 note 16
- ^ "Rich Oil Man Kills Guest, Air Officer, in Wife's Defense". New York Times. April 5, 1922. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
- ^ a b c d "Day is Exonerated After Telling Jury Why He Killed Beck", The New York Times April 9, 1922. Retrieved 2016-01-21
- ^ "Lawyer Slays Colonel When Wife Insulted", Sacramento Union, April 5, 1922. California Digital Newspaper Collection. Retrieved 2016-01-21
- ^ a b "Coroner's Jury Exonerates Day in Killing Army Officer". Sherman Daily Democrat. April 9, 1922. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
- ^ "Was Beck Shot From Behind?" Daily Oklahoman, April 7, 1922
- ^ "Army Board Files Report in Day Case " Daily Oklahoman, April 29, 1922
- ^ "Assail Day's Story of Shooting Beck". The New York Times. April 6, 1922. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
- ^ "Weeks Back Beck Finding". New York Times. August 24, 1922. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
- ^ Burial Detail: Beck, Paul W (Section 3, 1602-WS) – at ANC Explorer
References
- Beck, Capt. Paul W. (1912). "Military Aviation in America: Its Needs". Infantry Journal. 8 (May–June). pp. 796–817, (1912) Chapter V "The Aeroplane Applied to the Army", The Curtiss Aviation Book, Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York
- Cameron, Rebecca Hancock (1999). Training to Fly: Military Flight Training 1907–1945. Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program. OCLC 606500804.
- Demers, Daniel J. (2012). "Pioneer Airman's Tragic Destiny". Aviation History (July). Retrieved 2012-05-30.
- Haulman, Daniel L. (2003). One Hundred Years of Flight, USAF Chronology of Significant Air and Space Events 1903-2002. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press.
- Hennessy, Juliette A. (1958). The United States Army Air Arm, April 1861 to April 1917 (USAF Historical Study No. 98), Maxwell Air Force Base: Air Force Historical Research Agency, OCLC 12553968
- Larson, George C. (2011). "Moments and Milestones: Can You Hear Me Now?". Air & Space (March). Retrieved 2012-06-03.
- Matson, Francis G. (1919). Official Congressional Directory, 66th Congress 2d Session, December 1919 (e-book). Washington D.C.: Office of the Congressional Directory.
- McClendon, R. Earl (1996). Autonomy of the Air Arm (PDF). Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University. ISBN 0-16-045510-3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2016-11-23. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
- Pool, William C. (1955). "The Origin of Military Aviation in Texas, 1910–1913". The Southwestern Historical Quarterly. LVIII (January): 342–371. Retrieved 6 Sep 2011.
- Official Army Register, January 1, 1922 (e-book). Washington D.C.: United States Adjutant-General's Office. 1922.
- "Addenda and Corrections". Woman's Who's Who of America 1914–1915. wikisource. 1915. includes photo reproduction of page