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1st Lt Levitt C. Beck Jr. was an architact before he volunteered for the U.S. Army at March Field, Riverside, California, on 23 March 1942.

Lt Beck was shot down over France on 29 June 1944. He evaded apprehension, disguised as a civilian, until captured by the Gestapo. He was sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp, where he died of illness and starvation. His remains were cremated there, so he is listed as missing on many reports.

Statement from 2nd Lt Bryant L. Cramer:
"At approximately 0815 on 29 June, I was flying the wing of Yellow flight leader, Lt Beck, at 13,500 feet on a heading of 160 over Dreux. The Flight was jumped all too effectively at this time by four FW-190s, who came out of some clouds directly over us. Lt Beck and I broke left, but one of the 190s got hits on Beck's airplane before I could get it off his tail. His engine was smoking rather badly, and as I followed the enemy aircraft down in his dive, attempting to close into effective range, I heard Lt Beck call on the radio and say, 'My airplane is hit. I think I’ll have to bail out.' I cannot say for sure whether he made the jump successfully or not, nor am I positive he did jump. It is quite probable, however, that he did jump, and successfully. A pilot from the 313th Squadron, flying below us at the time of the encounter, reported seeing an unidentified, black fighter dive into the ground, and saw a chute open up above it. The Focke-Wulfs were silver."