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Contact Info
Home Town Fancy Creek Township, IL
Last Address Armed Forces Retirement Home (formerly the Naval Home) Gulfport MS. Died at Union County Hospital, Anna, IL.
Date of Passing Mar 01, 2006
Location of Interment Camp Butler National Cemetery (VA) - Springfield, Illinois
Chief NAP / Navy Aviation Pilot
Former World War II Enlisted Pilot, Last of a Few
Saturday, March 4, 2006
ANNA, IL -- Richard D. Beaver, 86, of Anna died Wednesday, March 1, 2006, at Union County Hospital.
He was born May 24, 1919, in Fancy Creek Township, IL, son of Otto and Louise Ritterbush Beaver.
Beaver served 20 years in the U.S. Navy. He then worked as an air traffic controller 10 years.
He was a member of First United Methodist Church, Retired Officers Association, Loyal Order of the Moose, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Silver Eagles Association, American Legion, life member of VFW, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Illinois, 32nd Degree member of Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Ansar Temple of the Shrine, Capital City Shrine Club, Legion of Honor Unit and Hillbilly Unit.
Beaver was formerly of Gulfport, MS., and Springfield, IL.
Other Comments:
The Navy beckoned, and Dick Beaver took the oath of enlistment Sept. 11, 1938. He became a Machinist's Mate, but he really wanted to fly combat aircraft as a Navy pilot. Graduating from boot camp in San Diego in December 1938, Beaver went aboard the destroyer USS Perkins (DD-377) and worked his way from the deck force to the engine room and made Fireman First Class in three years - before World War II. By August 1942 he'd made Machinist's Mate First Class and was selected for the Enlisted Pilot's Program. By November 1943 he was flying combat patrols in the Pacific.
His first assignment was with the PT (Patrol Torpedo Boat) 72 patrol squadron "the Knights of the Sea" operating out of Funafuti in the Ellice Islands, he flew the "Black Cat" PBY Catalinas, a squadron of black-painted aircraft that operated mainly at night against enemy shipping.
He participated in patrols prior to the invasion of the Central Pacific, the Gilberts, Marshalls and Enewetak islands, then he went through Tarawa, Kwajalein and the Marianas during the Marianas campaign.
At the end of WWII he was a Chief Petty Officer Aviation Pilot. In 1946 he was commissioned an Ensign and saw additional service during the Korean War. Beaver retired from the Navy in 1958 with the rank of Lieutenant (LT/ACC).
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of the Coral Sea
From Month/Year
May / 1942
To Month/Year
May / 1942
Description The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought during 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other.
In an attempt to strengthen their defensive positioning for their empire in the South Pacific, Japanese forces decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the southeastern Solomon Islands. The plan to accomplish this, called Operation MO, involved several major units of Japan's Combined Fleet, including two fleet carriers and a light carrier to provide air cover for the invasion fleets, under the overall command of Japanese Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue. The US learned of the Japanese plan through signals intelligence and sent two United States Navy carrier task forces and a joint Australian-American cruiser force, under the overall command of American Admiral Frank J. Fletcher, to oppose the Japanese offensive.
On 3–4 May, Japanese forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi, although several of their supporting warships were surprised and sunk or damaged by aircraft from the US fleet carrier Yorktown. Now aware of the presence of US carriers in the area, the Japanese fleet carriers entered the Coral Sea with the intention of finding and destroying the Allied naval forces.
Beginning on 7 May, the carrier forces from the two sides exchanged airstrikes over two consecutive days. The first day, the US sank the Japanese light carrier Shoho, while the Japanese sank a US destroyer and heavily damaged a fleet oiler (which was later scuttled). The next day, the Japanese fleet carrier Shokaku was heavily damaged, the US fleet carrier Lexington was critically damaged (and was scuttled as a result), and the Yorktown was damaged. With both sides having suffered heavy losses in aircraft and carriers damaged or sunk, the two fleets disengaged and retired from the battle area. Because of the loss of carrier air cover, Inoue recalled the Port Moresby invasion fleet, intending to try again later.
Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Allies for several reasons. The battle marked the first time since the start of the war that a major Japanese advance had been checked by the Allies. More importantly, the Japanese fleet carriers Sokaku and Zuikaku – one damaged and the other with a depleted aircraft complement – were unable to participate in the Battle of Midway, which took place the following month, ensuring a rough parity in aircraft between the two adversaries and contributing significantly to the US victory in that battle. The severe losses in carriers at Midway prevented the Japanese from reattempting to invade Port Moresby from the ocean. Two months later, the Allies took advantage of Japan's resulting strategic vulnerability in the South Pacific and launched the Guadalcanal Campaign that, along with the New Guinea Campaign, eventually broke Japanese defenses in the South Pacific and was a significant contributing factor to Japan's ultimate defeat in World War II.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
May / 1942
To Month/Year
May / 1942
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Beaver was at the Navy yard on Mare Island, Vallejo, Calif., near San Francisco.
"We got underway immediately and made two convoy trips from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor," Beaver noted. "We convoyed the first expeditionary troops to the Pacific out of San Francisco."
Beaver was aboard when the Perkins was engaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Sydney Harbor (Australia). The Perkins was involved in pivotal battles around Guadalcanal and New Guinea, and earned four battle stars during World War II. The only damage the Perkins received while Beaver was a crewman were hits by shrapnel.
Beaver said he was lucky because he'd gotten off the destroyer when a damaged propeller screw caused the ship to return to Pearl Harbor from the South Pacific in August 1942. While repairs were being made, Beaver used his liberty time to take civilian flying lessons. His application for Navy flight school was approved before the Perkins headed back to war.
"They wanted to make me a (chief petty officer) before I left the ship for flight school, but I refused it because I wanted to fly more," he said.
"I'd finished flight school earned my wings when she (Perkins) was sunk in November 1943," Beaver noted. "I was flying combat patrols then what I'd always wanted to do."
Ironically, the Perkins wasn't sunk by enemy fire; it went down after being accidentally rammed by the Australian transport HMAS Duntroon. The Duntroon's crew rescued most of the Perkins crew. Some reports say one Perkins crewman died, others reports say four perished.
His first assignment was with the PT (Patrol Torpedo Boat) 72 patrol squadron "the Knights of the Sea" operating out of Funafuti in the Ellice Islands, he flew the "Black Cat" PBY Catalinas, a squadron of black-painted aircraft that operated mainly at night against enemy shipping. 
