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| - John Kingsman Beling (October 29, 1919 – November 5, 2010) was a retired 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 pilot in the Pacific Theater in World War 2, 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.
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| abstract
| - John Kingsman Beling (October 29, 1919 – November 5, 2010) was a retired 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 pilot in the Pacific Theater in World War 2, 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 Navyas 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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