James "Earthquake McGoon" McGovern Jr.
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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.
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.
