Warbird Information Exchange

I had a meeting today with an Architectural firm in Santa Barbara, after my meeting, I was walking down the street to my car and sitting on the curb was a very old fellow who was in a bit of trouble. He was riding on one of those funky "Segways" (a two wheel thing you stand up on) It looked as if he had crashed or hit the curb or just fallen off. He was just sitting on the curb and asked me for help. I ask him if he was injured, he said no. I asked what happened and he stated his two wheel contraption ran out of power. (It runs on electricity). I helped him up and he could barely stand, let alone walk. Of course no one was around to help so I asked him what he needed. He told me he just needed to plug his segway into an outlet for a few minutes, just enough juice to get him home. Well, I looked around and of course couldn't find a exterior outlet anywhere. We were in a mixed-use area, so there's homes and businesses. I finally found an exterior outlet and pushed his bike over to extend the cord to plug it in. (the neighbor didn't mind us using her outlet for a few minutes) As we waited, I noticed he was wearing an old flight jacket. On the front was an information tag that read:

VMF-121
2Lt Warren Beales

I asked Him if he was a Marine pilot at one time, he smiled with a wink in his eye and said yes, F4F's on Guadalcanal, 3 Zero's shot down, one time wingman of Joe Foss. Needless to say I almost fell down. What the Hell? Was this a strange encounter or what? I told him my Dad was a Navy pilot and passed away a few months ago. He said God bless him. Warren stated he was 85 years old and had been a pilot before WWII as well. I asked him if he flew anything else. He said no, just F4F's and then sent home. Well, I have just spent about an hour trying to research him, but have found nothing so far. Anyone care to take a shot?. I would assume if you were a Marine pilot at Guadalcanal with 3 kills, there must be something out there. I hope he's for real. Seemed like a great guy.

We charged his bike up and I helped him onto it and off he went. Quite a chance encounter. Salutes from me to you Lt Beales.

My researce so far located here:

http://www.daveswarbirds.com/cactus/cactus.htm

Interesting, I just found this while researching the internet, I got his phone # so maybe this is a karma thing. I think I'll try to contact him. Seems he lives alone. Poor fellow.

Officer Jim Willis reported on the kind of action by a citizen
that we would hope every Kiwanian would take if
faced by a similar situation. On Thursday, November 3rd,
2005, 82 year old World War II veteran Warren Beales left
his house to run errands in the downtown area of Santa
Barbara. Mr. Beales was a recent transplant from the San
Diego area, lives alone, and is a Veteran’s Administration
Disability Aid recipient. Mr. Beales suffers from short
term memory loss, a condition he suffered while fighting
in the war in the South Pacific. Mr. Beales made his purchases
for the day and when it came time to go home had
forgotten his way.
Mr. Beales, who uses a motorized scooter, became confused
and wandered around the downtown and harbor
areas of the City of Santa Barbara. Along the way Mr.
Beales would ask others for assistance but they were too
busy to help or gave misguided directions.
Mr. Beales wandered into the Paseo Nuevo Mall and
came upon 20 year old Deirdra Florez. Ms. Florez talked
with Mr. Beales and discovered his plight. She offered
her assistance and sat with him inside Nordstrom’s while
his electric scooter recharged. After his battery was again
charged they set out together to try to find his home.
Ms. Florez called the Santa Barbara Police Department for
assistance and Officer Willis was dispatched to assist.
Ms. Florez and Officer Willis then spent the next couple
of hours locating Mr. Beales home, assisting him in trying
to locate his lost wallet, canceling his lost bankcard, and
helping him settle back into his house after a long day of
being away. Ms. Florez even transported Mr. Beales’
scooter in her own personal truck.
Ms. Florez was concerned about Mr. Beales dietary needs
and whether he had enough food to eat. She even told
him that she would check in on him the next day. Mr.
Beales was excited that he had met such a kind and caring
person. It was apparent that Mr. Beales took a liking to
Ms. Florez. (It should be noted here that Ms. Florez is as
pretty as she is caring!)
In a day and age where elderly people find themselves
victims of crimes of opportunity, it was refreshing to see a
young adult with such respect and concern for another
person. Ms. Florez should be commended for her help of
Mr. Beales. She truly deserved the Kiwanis EXTRA STEP
AWARD.

Very cool story. It's great you stopped to help. I hope you are able to catch up with him again.

_________________
Share your story: Rutgers Oral History Archive http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/

This is not much help in finding about his time at Guadalcanal, but is one more piece about him. His is the second entry.
bill word

http://www.jazz-radio.fm/book.php?page= ... 26&admin=0

That is a good story. It pays to be a Samaritan! And you never know who you will meet doing day to day things.

I once met a man who said he was on the Arizona on December 7th. He talked with me a while about it. I asked him to sign a small piece of paper for me as a keepsake. A few of my WW2 buddies told me he must be lying. But a few weeks later there was a story about him in the paper. I was quick to shove it in their faces.

Great story, hope you give him a call to see how he is doing, I bet he would appreciate it. Woder if there is any info in this book http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Fighting-S ... 0897473698

Tim

_________________
"If I had to fight the same war over again, I'd sure want to fight it from the cockpit of a Corsair."
-Archie Donahue

FWIW, and this isn't the burning bush speaking, but as close as we're gonna get - Frank Olynyk's USMC Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft in Air-to-Air Combat, World War 2, which covers all (not just the aces) Destroyed, Probable and Damaged claims, has no listing for Beales in either the name index or the VMF-121 listing. Nothing via similar spellings, etc.

This doesn't imply that the gentleman is out and out lying - I'd wager that he indeed flew as a combat pilot as he says - but it does imply that the official record doesn't support the three (or any) Zeroes shot down/probable/damaged by a Marine pilot named Beales in WWII. In any case, and more importantly, you deserve an attaboy for helping an elderly citizen in need.

FWIW, the American Fighter Aces Association considers Olynyk the "last word" when it comes to US aces and their claims. There are mistakes in Frank's work, but that's not HIS fault, that's the fault of incorrect (for a variety of reasons) official records (combat reports/squadron diaries/awards citations, etc) - Boyington being a prominent case in point.

Wade

_________________
Website: http://www.wademeyersart.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Wade.Meyers.Studios

I just gave Warren a call to see how he is doing today. He told me he has no water, so I'm sending a plumber over to check on him. What have I got myself into here? ... haha, oh well, I did talk to him a bit about his Marine aviation career. I asked if he had any photos of his time on Guadalcanal. He said he has a few with him, but most of his stuff he donated to the Miramar Aviation Museum. Is there a museum there? And if so, I may just try to look him up. I'm becoming very interested in this fellow. he just doesn't come across as being full of hot air. Guadalcanal is probably one of the most interesting periods of the war for me. So much happened. Very good stuff to research. I'll keep you all informed as to what I find .... As well with my Dad's research. So little I know even about my Dad's career. .... to be continued.

Yep, he's down there, I just called the Flying Leatherneck Museum in SD. They know him and are going to contact Warren to see if it's OK to send me copies of photos. Stay tuned ...

The following on VMF-121 doesn't list a Warren Beales either.

http://www.daveswarbirds.com/cactus/vmf-121.htm


Walt

Sounds like April Fools to me, 75-85 yr. old on a Segway, no water.???

Regards,
Mike

My cousin flew with VMF-121 on Guadalcanal so I've been kinda interested over the years and the name doesn't ring a bell.

_________________
Don't touch my junk!!

It sure went better than this encounter...


Found it here and forwarded to all the Marines I know:
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_8716808

dubble post- apologies...

I heard about that earlier- That guy deserves a medal(well, another one) for that. And the kid deserves a hitch- to teach him respect for his elders!.

Robbie

I find nothing on him either, other than what he told me and what little I have found on the internet. A fellow by the name of Steve Smith with the Flying Leathernecks museum at Miramar in SD area seems to know of him. Steve will be back on Thursday for those who may be interested to research further and want to call him. I hate to bother Warren and ask him questions for fear of offending him. I'm sure he is a veteran in some way, as to a combat pilot, he seems to know what he's talking about. Who knows ... and no, this is NOT an April fools joke, I have much better April fools jokes to spring on you guys. ...

Getting a little closer:

http://www.wwiimemorial.com/registry/se ... 1&tcount=1