First Lieutenant Beetle was the pilot of a F-86E Sabre Jet fighter bomber with the 335th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 4th Fighter-Interceptor Group. On July 4, 1952, while on a combat mission, his plane was attacked and damaged by an enemy MiG-15. He bailed out over Cho-do, but rescue effort was unsuccessful. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.