Talk:James B. McGovern Jr.

Vietnam MIA `McGoon' coming home for burial

By Richard Pyle Associated Press Published October 23, 2006

NEW YORK -- Half a century after he died in the flaming crash of a CIA-owned cargo plane and became one of the first two Americans to die in combat in Vietnam, a legendary soldier of fortune known as "Earthquake McGoon" finally is coming home.

The skeletal remains of James McGovern Jr., discovered in an unmarked grave in northern Laos in 2002, were identified last month by laboratory experts at the U.S. military's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. They are to be flown back to the mainland this week for a military funeral Saturday in New Jersey, said McGovern's nephew, James McGovern III of Forked River, N.J.

Six feet and 260 pounds--huge for a fighter pilot--McGovern carved out a flying career during and after World War II that made him a legend in Asia. An American saloon owner in China dubbed him "Earthquake McGoon," after a hulking hillbilly character in the comic strip "Li'l Abner."

He died on 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.

"Looks like this is it, son," McGovern radioed another pilot as his crippled plane staggered 75 miles into Laos, where it cartwheeled into a hillside.

Killed along with "McGoon," 31, were his co-pilot, Wallace Buford, 28, and a French crew chief. Two cargo handlers, a Frenchman and a Thai, were thrown clear and survived.

Ho Chi Minh's communist forces captured Dien Bien Phu the next day.

Although civilians, McGovern and Buford, an ex-World War II bomber pilot, were the first Americans to die in combat in the Asian country where war would kill nearly 60,000 Americans and more than 1 million Vietnamese.

Dr. Thomas Holland, director of JPAC's Central Identification Laboratory, said McGovern was only the second person ever identified through "nuclear" DNA from a male relative--a particularly difficult task with bones that are decades old. Most cases rely on mitochondrial DNA, from female relatives.

In 1944, McGovern went to China as a fighter pilot in the 14th Air Force's "Tiger Shark" squadron, descended from the famous Flying Tigers. According to Felix Smith, a retired pilot of the CIA-owned Civil Air Transport and a McGovern friend, he was credited with shooting down four Japanese Zero fighter planes and destroying five on the ground.

At war's end in 1945, McGovern signed on with Civil Air Transport, or CAT, which was under contract to Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese Nationalist regime, then fighting a civil war against Mao Tse-tung's communists.

Captured by communist troops after a forced landing, "McGoon" was freed six months later. Colleagues joked that his captors got tired of feeding him.

In 1997, an American MIA team investigating an unrelated case found a C-119 propeller at Ban Sot, and a JPAC photo analyst spotted possible graves in aerial photos.

Excavation in 2002 uncovered remains that turned out to be McGovern's.

---

About the battle

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ended in May 1954 after a 57-day siege by Vietnamese communists of a French army base. It signaled the end of French colonial power in Indochina, helping set the stage for the lengthy Vietnam War that ended with the fall of the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese government in 1975.

First American killed in combat in Viet Nam

Who was it, James "Earthquake McGoon" McGovern Jr., a CIA pilot who died defore the Viet Nam war started on 1 Nov 1955 (according to DOD)? Or was it A. Peter Dewey, an OSS officer killed by the Viet Minh in 1945? Or was it photographer Robert Capa? Or was it James T. Davis? Or was it Harry Cramer?--Vidkun 19:12, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Hmmmm. Good question. I will investigate further. Do you have an opinion? Mmoyer 16:28, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Here's the way I see it:

• McGovern was the first American killed in combat in the Vietnam war by virtue of his being a CIA employee. Even though the war was yet undeclared, he was there in an official, yet secret, capacity.
• Capa was not there on official U. S. business
• Davis was the first American soldier killed in open combat with the enemy during the Vietnam War.
• Cramer was the first American killed in Vietnam in the Vietnam war, but was not killed in combat, but a training exercise instead.

Mmoyer 15:02, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm of the opinion we should be as specific as possible. Each one of the article here or elsewhere on the web use the nice sound bite "first American killed in Vietnam". It's a crock, and not something wikipedia should support. None of the articles should say First American killed in combat in Viet Nam but should say: Dewey - killed by Viet Minh on mistaken identity as part of WWII; McGovern, killed during CIA involvement French Indo-China war before US military officially involved; Capa, non combatant, killed in combat; Cramer, killed after DoD claims start of US Military participation, either by accident in training or possible VC mortar attack (first hand accounts are conflicting); and Davis, first soldier killed in action against opposing combatants conclusively.--Vidkun 16:07, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Maybe we can start a category of "First Americans killed in Vietnam" [giggle]. Okay, its a bad joke, and no disrepsect intended. Capa and Dewey don't really rate a claim of "first". Nonetheless, there seems to be a legitimate "first" claim for the remaining three. Can we correctly say for each:

• McGovern, first American killed during CIA involvement French Indo-China war before US military officially involved.
• Cramer, first American soldier killed after DoD claims start of US Military participation, either by accident in training or possible VC mortar attack (first hand accounts are conflicting).
• Davis, first American soldier killed conclusively in open combat against opposing combatants.

Additionally, can each of these articles reference the others to clarify the "firstness"? This seems encyclopedic to me. Mmoyer 21:08, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Ace?

I'm seeing sources saying he got two aerial victories, specifically two Oscars, and several on the ground. Was he or wasn't he an ace? Clarityfiend (talk) 01:52, 11 October 2012 (UTC)

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