He simply misspoke.
He really meant to say it was Beau that was eaten by cannibals.
No. No! Beau was killed fighting hand to hand combat against cannibals trying to protect Joe’s uncle! Happened at Gettysburg. For real! The cannibal bit his hand off and soon after, he was unarmed!
Beau died in combat in Afghanistan
No wait, Beau died in Iraq.
Uh uh, actually Beau died at Normandy on D-Day.
No, no, Beau died on Iwo Jima!
And now we finally have the truth - Beau crashed in New Guinea and was devoured by cannibals.