Jeanne and I found it about a year ago in an antique store on Maybank Highway in Charleston, South Carolina. A Vietnam era POW/MIA bracelet with the name LCDR James Beene and a date, 10-5-1966. It was in a case with old military buttons, medals, and coins. I had worn one of these as a teenager in the 1970’s, albeit with a different name etched on it.
I think that I was initially bothered by seeing it in the display case with a price tag. This was not, at least to my thinking, something that should be for sale. After walking around the store and looking at all manner of antique collectibles, I came back to a sales associate and asked for the bracelet. I didn’t think it was right to leave it sitting in the case.
Perhaps I should explain two things here. The first is that the idea for these bracelets came from two college students, Carol Bates and Karen Hunter in 1969 as a way to draw attention to the missing men of the Vietnam conflict without getting drawn into the politics of the day. (You can read more about how the idea of the bracelets became a reality clicking here: Bracelet ). The bracelets originally included the name, rank, and date of loss of the service member. The idea was to wear the bracelet until the person whose name was on your wrist came home. Second, I am the son of a Naval Aviator who served on active duty and in the reserves from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. The name on the bracelet, James Beene, was a Naval Aviator, a contemporary of my father’s. I spent almost 24 years as a naval officer; I feel a connection to anyone who has worn or is wearing the uniform.
Lieutenant Commander James Alvin Beene, USNR was a native of Burbank California. He was a member of Attack Squadron 152, Carrier Air Wing 16 aboard USS ORISKANY (CVA-34). On October 5, 1966, he was the pilot of a Douglas Attack Skyraider (A-1H), serial number 137610, on armed reconnaissance over the coastal area of North Vietnam. His aircraft disappeared after he entered the clouds during the mission.
I was wondering what I should do with the bracelet. Should I try to return it to the family? Was there a group to which I could send it? I knew I did not want to put it in a drawer and forget about it. After discussing it with Jeanne, we decided that I should bring it with me on my next trip to Washington, D.C. and leave it at the Vietnam Memorial Wall at the base of the panel that bears LCDR Beene’s name.
I know that items left at the Vietnam Memorial Wall are collected, cataloged and conserved. The collection will serve as part of the display for a planned Visitor Center. Perhaps this bracelet could find a home in that collection.
At the beginning of July, I was scheduled to conduct a brief at the Defense Health Headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. I traveled to the area the day before my presentation to give me time to get into the city in the early evening. There was a METRO station close to my hotel, so I took the train into the city and walked down to the Mall on a hot, humid evening.
I found James A. Beene’s name on panel 11E, row 48. I carefully laid the bracelet at the base of the wall. While there, I noticed other things left behind in memory of some of the more than 58,000 names of Americans killed or missing from that conflict. Along the wall were a few long stemmed roses as well as a handful military medals from the Vietnam era scattered along the base of the Wall. There were people carefully taking rubbings of names off the wall onto paper provided by volunteers. There were veterans, in silent contemplation, lingering near panels.
I didn’t want to stay too long. I had delivered the bracelet that I had for almost a year. It was time to wander back to the METRO station at Foggy Bottom and head back to my hotel. As I walked through the streets of Washington, I couldn’t shake the thought of the loss of all those service men and women in that conflict. Many of the families still do not have answers about their loved ones. We, as a country, owe it to those who gave their lives in service to this nation to gain as full an accounting as is possible. It is the very least we can do for those who gave the last full measure of their devotion.
Michael's Monologue 
I also have a bracelet remembering LCDR Beene, which I have had 50+ years. I wish I could send it to someone in his family. Any suggestions? Thank you.
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I was not successful in trying to track down a family member for LCDR Beene. Sometimes they may just want to be left alone or avoid revisiting their loss. For me, leaving the POW Bracelet at the Viet Nam Memorial was the solution because it is only 225 miles away.
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Hi, I’m his grand daughter. My grandmother Patricia has also commented. Thank you for returning it to the wall. Seeing this has meant a lot to my family.
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I too have a bracelet with his name that I’ve had for almost 50 years. I am in the Seattle area. I have tried to reach out to get this to the family with no luck. I see there is a internment site in California. Next time I go to the bay area I think I will try to take it there .
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I wore my bracelet with Lt. Beenes name while I was in high school in the late 60s…. somehow it was misplaced at my parents home but his name was forever etched in my heart,,,,,R.I.P.
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I have the same story I grew up in Southern California and graduated from Santa Ana high school and I also have Lieutenant Commander James Beene POW bracelet. I wore it in high school and then kept it since then which would be about 50 years.Where should I return it?
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thats literally my grandfather. if you want i can tell my mom about your bracelet and see if her or my grandmother would like it. otherwise, if its special to you, keep it. if you love it, thats enough.
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I would love to have Jim’s bracelet. I could never wear it while I was in college or when I married Dane. Now, I can finally wear one.
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Hi, my name is Kohl. James Alvin Beene was my grandfather. Though he was lost three months before my mother was born, he has touched our lives forever. I know that when my mom was growing up, strangers would call her home phone and tell her that her father was an evil baby killer. So much of his memory has been strangers hating him. I think it is beautiful for a stranger to have kept his bracelet and loved it for fifty years. If you wanr, I can put you in touch with my mother, but my personal opinion is that you should keep it and love it. I hope your love fits his memory as a blessing.
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Jim was my first husband and the father of our daughter, Katy. He was a wonderful person and everyone really liked him. Thank you for caring about him. You would have liked him and he would have been so appreciative of your kindness. Thank you all.
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I also wore his bracelet and remember searching the newspapers to see if he was released with the POWs at the end of the war. I just finished a book set in the Vietnam War and I immediately thought of him.
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I am Jim’s widow. After my second husband died, I decided that I could work on bringing Jim’s remains home from Vietnam.
Several years before, my daughter and I went to a meeting of the National League of Families of POWs and MIAs in Vietnam. We met with Casualty Dept. officers who told us that about 8 years before a Vietnam fishing boat found Jim’s engine. Vietnam sent a heat seeking plane over the site which found debris and then divers down, who determined that something was under the silt. We never knew this.
Then, I went to the local county fair and asked the Blue Star Mothers to help me create a letter writing request for help to bring Jim home. They were the meanest and rudest people that I have ever met. While I was explaining my request, they were talking to people over my shoulder and then, when I said that I was leaving, they handed me a card and said call this woman. I would never ask them for help again. Then, went to the Vietnam Vets’ booth , they were great. Told me to go to my local Congressman’s booth, Congressman Dahle, because he helped the Vets. I went. They took all my info, and contacted me the next day. Congressman Dahle went to the Dept. of Defense for me, and in 2019 a deep sea search was started, but not for Jim.
After many discussions with various members of the POW/MIA affairs, they have decided that Jim is unrecoverable, something like the Arizona in Hawaii. It was not the answer that I wanted to hear, but am ok with it.
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Last fall I received a letter describing the years that Jim had been missing. The Vietnamese fishing boat found his engine. The Vietnamese sent a heat seeking plane over and found debris. Then, divers were sent down. The determined that something was below the silt. After many discussions with the various government agencies, they have determined that Jim is unrecoverable.
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