Airman Second Class Beacham was the tail gunner of a B-26B Invader bomber with the 13th Bomber Squadron, 3rd Bomber Group. On March 31, 1952, while on a night intruder mission, contact was lost with his aircraft. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on December 31, 1953. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.