BEENE, JAMES A.

Name: James A. Beene
Rank/Branch: USN, O2
Unit:
Date of Birth: 11 July 39
Home City of Record: Burbank, CA
Date of Loss: 05 October 66
Country of Loss: North Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 182900 NORTH 1060600 EAST
Status (in 1973): Missing
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: A1H, #137610
Refno: 0483
Remarks: Aircraft missing over water.

Other Personnel In Incident:

Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss. Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."

On October 5, 1966, Lieutenant JG Beene was the flight leader and
pilot of an A-1 section aircraft from the U.S.S. Oriskany on an
armed reconnaissance mission over the coastal area of North Vietnam
between Cape Mui Ron and Thanh Hoa. While in an area 15 miles
south of Hon Mat Island, Lieutenant Beene entered the base of thick
cumulus clouds and never emerged. An oil slick was later sighted
on the ocean which might have come from submerged leaking fuel
tanks but no aircraft debris was located.

A SAR effort was unable to locate any specific trace of Lieutenant
Beene, and he was declared missing. His name was provided to
Vietnamese officials in Paris in October 1971, but no information
was received in return.

Returning U.S. POWs were unable to provide any information about
his precise fate. In February 1976 he was declared killed in
action, body not recovered.

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