John Kingsman Beling
American admiral
Died when: 91 years 7 days (1092 months)Star Sign: Scorpio
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, 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.
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