Cold War reconnaissance loss · Reported in Chinese custody · Never returned
The man
Jim Deane had just married Beverly, a fellow Cornell graduate, when he flew the mission. Decades later she said the government had approached its missing cases “in a most ineffective way.”
What is known
Lt. Deane was the co-pilot of an electronic countermeasures P4M Martin Mercator shot down by PRC MiG aircraft on 23 August 1956, local time, over the Zhoushan Archipelago off Hangzhou Bay. The U.S. Seventh Fleet and China recovered four bodies. Lt. Deane and eleven others were declared missing for a year and then declared deceased.
Dr. Beverly Deane — Lt. Deane’s widow, later Dr. Beverly Deane Shaver — reports that she failed repeatedly to obtain further information from the U.S. government because the material was classified.
In the early 1990s, through extensive research and trips to China, she uncovered the following:
- According to U.S. intelligence records, at least two P4M survivors were rescued and taken to a local hospital in “Chen Hai,” and later transferred to the “Pao-ting Army Hospital,” 3rd Ward.
- One survivor was identified as Lt. Deane — described as a tall man with high cheekbones and “not hairy.” The second was identified by U.S. intelligence as either AT2 Leonard Strykowsky or AO2 Warren Edgar Caron.
- In November 1956 the survivor identified as Deane was reportedly transferred to “Wan Ping Prison,” about 40 km west of Beijing, and then to live with “Chien Leung” (or Ch’en Lung) in Beijing.
- A report indicates the two Americans were moved in 1956 to the residence of one “Tsai Mao,” Chief of Public Information, Ministry of Social Welfare.
- The other American was later reported to be working at the “Sheng-Lung Corporation” in Shanghai.
- During the 1990s a former senior Chinese official told Dr. Deane he remembered both the shoot-down and a celebration by senior Chinese Air Force officers at the capture of two American survivors.
- In 1999–2000 she sought help from Li Xiaolin, head of the American section of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. Madame Li confirmed that Chinese records on Lt. Deane were then held by the People’s Liberation Army and were not releasable.
What remains unresolved
Whether the men described in the intelligence reporting were in fact Deane and a fellow crewman, and what became of them, is unresolved.
Among those who helped her search was Donald Rumsfeld, twice secretary of defense, who had been Deane’s friend in flight school.
A Pentagon report produced after Dr. Shaver revived the case recorded that the Office of Naval Intelligence “concluded that these live sightings were inconclusive due to the lack of additional reports to establish their validity.”
Responding to U.S. pressure, Beijing announced in 1992 that it could find “no information to support” the reports. A document handed over in 2006 did not resolve the question. A former senior Chinese air defense officer told Dr. Shaver that “two pilots” had been captured in the incident, but later said he could not remember.
Why the case matters
The reporting here is unusually specific — named hospitals, named minders, named work units, a physical detail that Deane’s widow recognized. It ran for about two years. It was not shared with the families at the time.
The case also shows the shape of the wider problem: Beijing has told the United States both that no such capture occurred and that its records on the man are classified.
Evidence and sources
- U.S. intelligence reporting from 1956 onward describing the capture and movement of two American survivors, declassified and located in the early 1990s.
- U.S. Navy analysis matching physical descriptions in the reporting to Deane and to either Caron or Strykowsky.
- Statements to Dr. Shaver by a former senior Chinese official and by Li Xiaolin of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
- The Office of Naval Intelligence assessment that the live sightings were inconclusive.
- Reporting by Washington Post journalist Katie Shaver on her mother’s search.
Request for information
“I am now 85 years old and in ill health. My time is running out. I am asking — no, rather I am begging — China to show mercy so that I may know my husband’s fate. We had been married only three months when his plane went down, but the pain still persists.” — Dr. Beverly Shaver, former wife
Please contact us if you can help with any of the following.
- Accounts of American survivors of the Aug. 23, 1956, P4M shootdown held in Chinese hospitals, prisons or homes from 1956 to 1958.
- Recollections or family papers of “Ch’en Lung” and “Tsai Mao,” or of anyone who worked in their households or at the Sheng-Lung Corp. in Shanghai.
- Accounts from Chinese Air Force personnel who knew of the capture of two American airmen.
U.S. intelligence tracked two survivors from a hospital to a prison to private homes over about two years. A senior Chinese official remembered a celebration of their capture. Beijing says it has no information, and also that its records on Deane are classified. Did the men die in custody? Were they kept for what they knew? Or did they live out their lives in China?
中文
詹姆斯·B·迪恩（James B. Deane）海军中尉 —— 征集信息
迪恩中尉是美国海军一架P4M“墨卡托”电子侦察机的副驾驶。1956年8月23日（当地时间），该机在杭州湾外舟山群岛上空被中国米格战斗机击落。美国第七舰队和中方共找到四具遗体。迪恩中尉和其他十一人被列为失踪，一年后被宣告死亡。
迪恩中尉的遗孀贝弗利·迪恩博士（即后来的贝弗利·迪恩·谢弗博士）表示，她多次向美国政府索取进一步资料，均因资料属于机密而未果。
1990年代初，她经过大量研究并数次访问中国，了解到以下情况：
- 据美方情报记载，至少有两名P4M幸存者获救，先被送到“Chen Hai”（音，或为浙江镇海）的一家当地医院，后转至“Pao-ting”（音）陆军医院第三病区。
- 其中一名幸存者被认为是迪恩中尉，描述为身材高大、颧骨较高、体毛不多。美方情报认为另一名幸存者是二级航空电子技术兵伦纳德·斯特里科夫斯基（Leonard Strykowsky）或二级航空军械兵沃伦·埃德加·卡伦（Warren Edgar Caron）。
- 据报，1956年11月，被认为是迪恩的幸存者被转移到北京以西约40公里的“Wan Ping”监狱（音，或为宛平），之后住在北京一位“Ch’en Lung”（音）家中。
- 另一份报告称，1956年两名美国人被转到一位“Tsai Mao”（音）的住所，报告称此人为“社会福利部”新闻部门负责人。
- 据报，另一名美国人后来在上海一家“Sheng-Lung”（音）公司工作。
- 1990年代，一位中国前高级官员告诉迪恩博士，他记得那次击落事件，也记得中国空军高级军官曾为俘获两名美国幸存者而庆祝。
- 1999至2000年间，谢弗博士向中国人民对外友好协会美国事务负责人李小林女士求助。李女士证实，中方关于迪恩中尉的记录由解放军保管，不能公开。
我们希望了解：1956至1958年间在医院等处见过美国人的人士或其家人的回忆；当年参与或知道1956年8月23日空战的人士的回忆。
安全提示：请勿向我们提供任何属于国家秘密或未公开的官方档案。我们欢迎个人和家庭的回忆、已公开出版的书报、地方志、家书和老照片。如您身在中国境内，请优先考虑自身安全。
“我今年85岁，身体不好，时间已经不多了。我请求——不，我恳求——中国发发慈悲，让我知道丈夫的下落。他的飞机被击落时，我们结婚才三个月，但伤痛至今未消。” —— 贝弗利·谢弗博士，迪恩中尉的遗孀
我们的目的是查明这些人的下落，而不是追究战争年代任何人的责任。未经允许，我们不会公开消息来源的姓名。
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