John Kingsman Beling (October 29, 1919 – November 5, 2010) was a Rear Admiral of the United States Navy whose final assignment was as Commander, Iceland Defense Force in the early 1970s. Commissioned in 1942, he served as a Naval Aviator in the Pacific Theater in World War II, and was seriously burned when his aircraft was shot down during the Marianas Campaign. He made a full recovery from his injuries, and went on to serve in a variety of staff positions, attended the Naval War College, and commanded three attack squadrons and two ships.
Beling was commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CVA-59) at the time of the July 29, 1967 fire that killed 134 Sailors and Officers, injured 161, and caused $72 million (1967 dollars) in damage to the ship. The Navy investigation into the fire cleared Beling of wrongdoing. After retiring from the Navy as a rear admiral in 1973, Beling worked as a Department of Defense civilian, as well as for a defense contractor, before retiring for good in 1985. He died November 5, 2010 in Reston, Virginia.
Early life and career
John Kingsman Beling was born in New York City on October 29, 1919, and was raised in Harrington Park, New Jersey. He was the son of Aelian Arnold Beling (b. Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) 1879) and Mable Ashe Jackson (b. 1886). Aelian Arnold Beling was a Ceylonese Burgher or Dutch Burgher, the son of William Wright Beling I (Proctor) and Maria Elizabeth Prins, who were married in the Dutch Reformed Church, Wolvendahl, Ceylon on 1 February 1864. Aelian was also the younger brother of the Ceylonese artist William Wright Beling II (1867–1928).
John Kingsman Beling graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1941. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Beling joined the Naval Reserve as an aviation specialist, and was commissioned an Ensign upon completion of flight training in 1943, after which he headed to the Pacific theater as a dive bomber pilot with Bombing Squadron ONE (VB-1). Beling was shot down over the island of Yap during the Marianas Campaign in 1944. Although badly burned, Beling was able to make his way out to open sea, where a seaplane from the cruiser USS Biloxi spotted him. After being hospitalized for his burns, he rejoined the fleet as a fighter pilot.
Beling received a Ph.D in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1951, and afterwards served in a variety of operational, research & development, testing, and evaluation assignments, including a tour at the Office of Naval Research in London and at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. He also served in Air Test and Development Squadron FIVE (VX-5), and twice served in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, in roles pertaining to weapons development. He also served as Assistant Chief of Staff and Force Training Officer at the headquarters of Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic (COMNAVAIRLANT) at NAS Norfolk, Virginia. Aside from his command of Forrestal, from May 1966 to September 1967, Beling commanded two attack squadrons and the stores ship USS Alstede (AF-48). Beling was promoted to rear admiral in 1968.
Forrestal fire
Then-Captain Beling was commanding officer of USS Forrestal on July 29, 1967, when a Zuni rocket accidentally fired while on deck, striking another aircraft. In the initial moments of the disaster, which eventually killed 134 sailors and injured 167 more, including then-Lieutenant Commander and future U.S. Senator John McCain, Beling—who had been in his cabin at the time and was clad only in a t-shirt and uniform pants—ordered the ship slowed, to reduce the force of wind gusts blowing across the flight deck, and gave directions for incoming helicopters, sent to transport wounded sailors off Forrestal, to land at the front of the deck to keep rotor wash from fanning the flames. Beling would personally direct damage control efforts from the bridge throughout the ten-hour ordeal. As night fell, Beling recited a prayer to the surviving crew: