Jack Bee Garland Jack Bee Garland ( 9 December 1869 — 19 September 1936 ) was a trans man , author , nurse and adventurer . Garland was also known as Elvira Virginia Mugarrieta , Babe Bean , Jack Beam , Jack Maines , and Beebe Beam . Life and career . As Babe Bean . Born in San Francisco , California to a father who was a military officer serving as Mexican consul to San Francisco , in 1897 , he took residence in Stockton , California . Using the male name Babe Bean and pretending to be mute , he got a job with " The Stockton Evening Mail " writing stories that focused on social problems such as gambling and vagrancy . As Beebe Beam . On October 5 , 1899 , he adopted the male identity of Beebe Beam and accompanied United States Army forces to the Philippines in 1899 to participate in the Philippine War for a year , writing , " I saw war and I lived it . " Beam was a cabin boy on the troop transport " City of Para " to pay his way to the Philippines . Beam became sick on the journey and was set ashore after the captain found out about Beam ' s history . The enlisted soldiers took up a collection to buy his ticket . When the captain would not allow Beam back on the ship , the soldiers gave Beam a uniform and hid Beam until they were safely away from Hawaii . Beam was discovered again and confined , but , dressed as a soldier , Beam escaped and followed the regiments to their Philippine garrisons . Beam served as a Spanish language interpreter and nurse , living in military camps with the Sixteenth , Twenty - Ninth , Forty - Second , and Forty - Fifth United States Volunteer Infantry regiments . During that time in the Philippines , Beam did not participate in combat , but witnessed the Battle of San Mateo and joined several marches throughout Luzon . Beam accompanied United States military forces to Santa Cruz , Laguna de Bey , Camarines , and Caloccan , as well as Manila and smaller garrisons . Beam spent almost a year in the Philippines before returning to the United States . On October 21 , 1900 , Beam published " My Life as a Soldier , " in the " San Francisco Examiner " Magazine . Although Beam never enlisted and did not participate in combat , Beam marketed the story as a woman soldier in the Philippines . During World War I , Beam was arrested in December 1917 at Seal Beach as a German spy . As Jack Bee Garland . Shortly after publishing the Philippine adventure , Beam abandoned newspaper writing and assumed the identity Jack Bee Garland , living as a man for the remainder of his life . As Jack Garland , he devoted himself to social work with the American Red Cross and other charitable organizations . Garland died of peritonitis in San Francisco on September 19 , 1936 . The hospital discovered Garland had been living as male , provoking a series of newspaper articles . Garland had a tattoo that showed an American flag under the word Manila alongside an infantry insignia . Newspapers suggested that Garland should be buried with military honors as a veteran , and Garland ' s sister , Victoria Shadbourne , perpetuated the idea by suggesting that Beebe Beam had been a lieutenant in the United States Army . No record of that service existed , and Garland was denied a military burial . Trans man Lou Sullivan has written a detailed biography of Garland .