First Lieutenant John B. Beatty, Jr.

First Lieutenant John B. Beatty lost his life during a combat training flight on February 5, 1944 near Ainsworth, Nebraska.

John B. Beatty, Jr. was born on July 30, 1918 to Mr. and Mrs. John B. Beatty of Bloomingville, Ohio. He was a 1936 graduate of Sandusky High School, and also graduated from Ohio State University. According to his obituary in the 1944 OBITUARY NOTEBOOK, in the genealogical collection of the Sandusky Library, John B. Beatty, Jr., enlisted in the Army Air Corps on January 22, 1941. He graduated on November 10, 1942 from the Army Air Base at Lake Charles, Louisiana, and received his wings and rank of Second Lieutenant. Later he was promoted to First Lieutenant. Lieut. Beatty served in the Caribbean Sea area and the Panama Canal Zone. He returned to Beggs Field in Texas, and then was transferred to the Ainsworth Army Base in Brown County, Nebraska. Lieut. Beatty was in a training flight near the Ainsworth Base when his plane collided with another plane, and both pilots lost their lives.

Lieut. John B. Beatty, Jr. was buried in the Sand Hill Cemetery, in Erie County, Ohio. Services were held both at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John B. Beatty and at Sand Hill Church.

A great uncle of Lieut. John B. Beatty, Jr., also named John Beatty, was a Civil War Brigadier General. General John Beatty is buried in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery.