Stratton Beesley, born in Ponca City, Oklahoma in 1922, moved to San Angelo at the age of five.
He remained in San Angelo until 1942, when he graduated from San Angelo College. That same year, Beesley enlisted at Goodfellow Field, Texas and joined the 15th AF, 450th BG, 720th Squad called the "Cottontails" serving as a tail gunner on a B-24. On his eleventh mission, the crew encountered intense flack that caused their plane to crash into the Mediterranean Sea, seventy-five miles off the French coast. After three days of floating in the ocean with no food or water, Beesley and his fellow crew members were captured by a German air to sea rescue.
After hospitalization and German interrogation, Beesley was sent by boxcar to Stalag Luft IV for a year long imprisonment. When the Western Front began to fall, the POW's began an eighty-three day "Death March," where he contracted diphtheria. During the march, Beesley and several other captives escaped to the countryside and were liberated two days later by the British 11th Armored Division. He returned to the United States and was reunited with his two brothers, Jack and Wade Beesley, who also served during the war. Beesley's stellar military career has earned him the Good Conduct Medal, EAME with 4 Bronze Stars, Purple Heart, 2 overseas bars and a POW Medal.
In 1945, Beesley married Jean Stepp and attended graduate school at the University of Texas, graduating in 1949 with a bachelor of science degree in physics. Beesley, a Certified Professional Landman and Geophysicist, has been with Shell Oil Company as a geophysicist, Vice-President of Precision Cable Company, and Directeur General Adjoint of Societe Algerienne De Recherches Et D'Etudes Geophysiques in Algiers, Algeria. He has memberships with th Society of Exploration Geophysicists, European Association of Exploration Geophysicists, American Association of Professional Landmen, and is Vice Commander of the Concho Valley Chapter of American Ex Prisoners of War Association.
Beesley currently works out of his home in San Angelo with his business Petro Land Consultants, Inc. and is a member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church of San Angelo, Texas. Beesley and his wife have a son, S. Worth Beesley, an engineer with Boeing Company in Everitt, Washington. Their daughter, Reece Beesley Small, is a homemaker and an Independent Computer Analyst for several companies in Ft. Worth, Texas. They have four grandchildren, Kate, Bill, Brook, and Regan, and one great granddaughter, Anna Whitworth.
As profiled in the 2003 Fall Alumni Magazine.
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