In October 1917, Beebe had his opportunity to serve in the war. With the help of a letter of recommendation from Roosevelt, he was given the duty of flying aerial photography planes over German gun emplacements. He also spent time in trenches and accompanied a Canadian Indian platoon on a night raid. Beebe subsequently wrote several articles describing his war experience for Scribner's Magazine and Atlantic Monthly. Beebe generally did not make the exact nature of his military service clear in his writings about it, although he expressed his general dismay at the realities of the war. The best-known of these accounts is provided by the opening paragraph of his 1918 book "Jungle Peace":