Charles Beckner, Great Lakes Navy Training Center, 1939 (Beckner Family Collection)
Charles and Friend (Beckner Family Collection)
Mare Island Navy Hospital, 1940 (National Archives)
USS Chaumont. The Ship that took Charles to Manila in 1940. In 1943 she was converted to a Hospital Ship. (National Archives)
Low-resolution picture of Cavite. Between the Navy Yard (lower position in the photo) and Sangley Point (upper, distant position in the photo), 13 PBY seaplanes are moored in the bay. (National Archives)
The two arms of Cavite Peninsula, looking northwest. The Cavite Navy Yard is in foreground. In the background, the Hospital Reservation (mostly trees) is at the base of the three 600 food radio towers. The Sangley point seaplane base has yet to be built at the time of this undated photo. (National Archives)
The two arms of Cavite Peninsula, looking north. In the foreground is the old Cavite City to the left, and the US Navy Yard on the right. In the background is the upper arm with the USS Langley (AV-3) at Sangley Point. Photo ~1941 (National Archives)
The Cavite Hospital Reservation with Cañacao Navy Hospital partially hidden in the trees. Behind that are the three 600 foot tall radio towers. (National Archives)
Cañacao Navy Hospital ~1937 (National Archives )
Cañacao Navy Hospital Staff Photograph, Cavite, 1941. Charles is center, 5th row. (Beckner Family Collection)
Charles, 1941, on promotion to Petty Officer, Pharmacists Mate 3rd. Photo from Garduño’s Studio, Cavite, PI (Beckner Family Collection)
PBY flyover of USS Langley, 1941 (National Archives)
PBY4 seaplanes on the ramp at Sangley Point US Navy Seaplane Base, 1939. (National Archives)
Olongapo ~1933. Drydock USS Dewey on the left. (National Archives)
USS Dewey Drydock at Olongapo ~1938. When war with Japan was imminent, she was towed to the better defended Mariveles harbor. (National Archives)
Olongapo 1941. Note the Six PBY Seaplanes and the mothballed USS Rochester. The arrow-shaped structure in the bay is a fish trap. (National Archive)
B-17 At Clark Army Air Field on Luzon, near Manila, before the Japanese attack on the airbase. (National Archives)
Clark Field, Philippine Islands under attack by Japanese Planes on 8 Dec 1941, only hours following the attack on Pearl Harbor. (National Archives)
US Army Hospital on Bataan, 1942 (National Archives)
Approximate schematic for Malinta Tunnels. (National Archives)
M-1904 Hospital Corps Knife. ~40,000 were made at the Springfield Armory between 1904 and 1914. (Floyd Family Photo)
Four of the six MTB 3 PT boats in the well of the USS Guadalupe being transported to Cavite. This might be the only surviving picture of PT-34, seen here on the right. (National Archives)
PT 41 on the USS Guadalupe being transported to Cavite.(National Archives)
Possibly PT-32 in foreground, probably at sea trials prior to transfer to Cavite. (National Archives)
Restored PT 658, illustrating proximity of machine gun turrets to Bridge
Cavite US Navy Yard, 1941. Note the small pier at the top, with all six PT boats of Motor Torpedo Squadron 3 at dock. (National Archives)
MTB 3 warehouse near their dock. Note torpedoes visible through the open door. (FSU Gerald King Collection.)10 December 1941 Japanese bombing of Cavite Navy Yard. (National Archives)MBT3 warehouse after bombing. Note litter bearers with M1903 Springfield rifles and WWI helmets. In Dec 1941 much of the US military equipment was out of date WWI vintage guns, artillery, and ships. (FSU Gerald King Collection.)Squadron 3 warehouse (different angle) with bomb-damaged ambulance at edge of dock. (FSU Gerald King Collection.)MTB 3 Cavite Navy Yard Dock after Japanese bombing on 10 Dec 1941. (FSU Gerald King Collection.)
John Balog (with beard)), Senior corpsman for MTB3. (Clipping, hand-labeled as “John Balog and Filipino soldier near Lake Lanao.” Source not otherwise attributable. Beckner Family Papers)
Lieutenant Robert B. Kelly returned to the Pacific as commander of a PT boat squadron in the Solomon Islands. For his actions there, he was awarded a second Silver Star. (National Archives.)
Charles Beckner, 1942, Patrol Wing 10 Base on Swan River near Perth Australia. (Beckner Family Collection)
R4D medical evacuation plane loading casualties on Okinawa in April 1945. CPO Charles Beckner was evacuated to Guam for surgery on his leg wound on this plane or its twin. He returned to his unit three weeks later. The female officer on the right is Flight Nurse Jane Kendeigh, the first flight nurse to land on Okinawa. (National Archives Photo)Navy R4D medical evacuation plane use to transport injured from Okinawa in 1945. It is currently a static exhibit at the March Field Air museum in Riverside, California. There is a 50/50 chance that Charles was evacuated on this plane. (Floyd Family Photo)
Charles Beckner and his father, Lee Beckner, 1958. Lee was always a “slight” man. The photo’s perspective, with Lee closer to the camera and the low angle of view, actually minimizes the real difference in height between father and son. (Beckner Family Collection)
Charles Brother, Jim and sister, Mary at the Indiana farm. Exact date unknown, possibly ~1945. (Beckner Family Photo)
Charles after war, prior to promotion to Warrant Officer
Charles and Admiral Bulkeley at an MTB 3 reunion in San Diego, 1975. (Beckner Family Photo)
In the mid-1990s Mr Beckner, his daughter Barbara, and this author visited Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA. The PT Museum had two original WWII PT boats preserved and on static display, both protected behind ropes with “do not touch the exhibit” signs. The gentlemen in the picture, Donald Shannon, heard us talking at the entrance. Learning that Mr. Beckner was on PT 34 during the extraction of Gen Douglas MacArthur, he latched onto this walking oral history and escorted us personally throughout the museum and onto and throughout the ELCO boat. Mr. Shannon was at the time PT Coordinator for the museum, was later named Curator, and by the time of this posting was the museum director. As we wandered through the museum exhibits and the boats, I was closely listening to the stories (some which I had never heard from Mr. Beckner before.) All of those events were later included in The Expendable.
Charles Beckner with his daughter Barbara (Beckner) Floyd (Author’s wife), ~1970. (Floyd Family Photo)
Charles Beckner’s Interment with Full Military Honors at Arlington National Cemetery, 2009. (Floyd Family Photo)
Author at Charles Beckner’s gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery, 2017 (Floyd Family Photo)
