James "Earthquake McGoon" McGovern Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. This article has been tagged since January 2007. |
James B. "Earthquake McGoon" McGovern Jr. (-1954) was a World War II fighter ace with nine enemy aircraft to his credit. James McGovern died in Laos plane crash in May 6, 1954, when his C-119 Flying Boxcar cargo plane was hit by ground fire while parachuting a howitzer to the besieged French garrison at Dien Bien Phu. The day after the crash and deaths of McGovern and Buford, the garrison at Dien Bien Phu surrendered.
His skeletal remains were discovered in an unmarked grave in northern Laos in 2002. They were identified in September 2006 by laboratory experts at the U.S. military's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. He is credited as being one of the first two Americans to die in combat in Vietnam, the other being Wallace Buford.
On February 24, 2005, James McGovern was postumously awarded (along with his co-pilot Wallace Buford, and 6 other surviving pilots) the Legion of Honour with the rank of Knight by the President of the Republic of France for their actions to supply Dien Bien Phu during the 57 day siege. [1]
