John Woodrow Beauchamp

John Woodrow Beauchamp was born to Charles M. Beacham and Olive Beacham on December 28, 1915, in Bakersfield, California, the second of four children. Beacham was his original last name, but the 1930 US Federal Census listed the children's last name as Beauchamp. Beauchamp's father died when he was five, and his mother remarried Vernon J. Nicholson. The family added another brother, but Vernon sadly passed away when Beauchamp was seventeen. He attended Kern County Union High School, home of “The Drillers,” a reference to the oil-rich lands and profession ubiquitous in the area. He was a member of the Boxing Club, and it appears he was not a half-bad pugilist, making his way to the championship fight for the lightweight division in his class. John was not a traditional high school student, however. His mother told E.O. Holland that “he still wanted to go to college and with the help of us all and hard work out in the oil field all summer he managed to go. He earned all his spending money and paid for his own clothes from twelve.” At the age of twelve he was also “working in a dairy,” and that is when he “entered high school at twelve years and one month. Graduated high school at fifteen years and five months.” His work at the dairy proved to be most impactful on his life. Olive reports that “His work at the dairy decided what he wanted as he loved . . . animals in general.” 

The young man who lost his father at the age of five, lost his stepfather at seventeen, enrolled in school at the age of twelve, graduated at the age of fifteen, earned money for the family and paid for his own clothes also somehow saved up enough money to follow his passion in life, to care for sick and injured animals. This passion drove him to attend Bakersfield Junior College after high school.  John Beauchamp enrolled in Junior College, and according to newspaper articles produced after his death, he graduated from Bakersfield Junior College with athletic and scholastic honors. With that level of education completed, he looked for Veterinary Medicine programs to continue pursuing his dream of being a veterinarian. He found one such program at Washington State College, and in 1935, he left his native state of California bound for the Pacific Northwest and Pullman, Washington. John settled in nicely in the College Community in Pullman. He graduated from WSC in 1939 with a Bachelor of Science and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.VM). After completing his degree, Beauchamp opened his first veterinary practice in Redding, California, but he may also have had a practice in Taft, California. 

In August 1942, Beauchamp joined the US Army Veterinary Corps but later joined the Army Air Corps. He learned how to fly fighter planes and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant after earning his wings. He was assigned to the 495th Fighter Training Group in England. The 495th was designed to provide forward training on tactics and operations for the European Theater. The 495th had command over the training of the 551st and 552nd Fighter Training Squadrons, flying P-47 Thunderbolts and P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft. Beauchamp was stationed at Atcham Airfield, often referred to as RAF (Royal Air Force) Atcham, a field used by the Eighth Air Force. He was completing a training mission on May 4, 1944, when he misjudged his location and crashed his plane. He was killed instantly at just 28 years of age. He was laid to rest at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, San Mateo County, California. He is memorialized at the WSU World War II memorial.