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In March 1954, acting upon a request from the French government for assitance in keeping supplied an advanced position in Dien Bien Phu, ten miles from the Laos border in northwestern Vietnam, the Eisenhower administration approved the use of U.S. Air Force C-119s, with French markings, to be flown by pilots from Civil Air Transport (CAT), an airline secretly owned by the Central Intelligence Agency. The CAT-piloted aircraft, based at Haiphong's Cat Bi Airport, began flying to Dien Bien Phu on March 12. The following day, hundreds of Vietminh heavy guns opened fire on the French position, closing the airfield. CAT pilots made 87 airdrops in March and 428 in April. Anti-aircraft fire became increasingly hazardous, and nearly all C-119s suffered battle damage. On May 6, 1954, as the French positions were about to be overrun by the Vietminh, CAT flew final airdrop missions in support of the beleaguered garrison. Six C-119s took off from Cat Bi in the afternoon to drop ammunition to the defenders of strong point Isabelle. Number two aircraft, #149, was flown by James B. McGovern, Jr., and Wallace Buford. Known throughout Far Eastern aviation circles as "Earthquake McGoon"--after the Al Capp comic book character--for his impressive girth, McGovern was a veteran CAT pilot who had a voracious appetite for food, drink, and life. The quieter Buford was a Korean War veteran who had been hired as a copilot for the C-119's. In late April, he had proved his courage and skill when he brought safely home a damaged C-119 and it's badly injured pilot. The first aircraft in the file, flown by Steve Kusak, safely dropped its load on Isabelle. As McGovern approached the DZ, however, his aircraft was hit twice by 37mm anti-aircraft fire, in the left engine and stabilizer. Lt. Jean Arlaux, in command of the three French "kickers" in the rear of the airplane, immediately jettisoned the 6000 kgs. of ammunition. McGovern shut down the smoking left engine. McGovern barely cleared the mountains surrounding Dien Bien Phu as the C-119 slowly lost altitude. Directed by Kusak to a possible emergency landing field close to the Nam Ma River, McGovern was forced down near the village of Muoung Het. The aircraft exploded on impact with the ground, killed McGovern, Buford, and two kickers. Arlaux and Private Moussa survived the crash. Moussa soon died of his injuries. Arlaux survived five months of Vietminh captivity before being repatriated. McGovern and Buford were the first U.S. airmen to die in what was destined to become a long--and costly--American war in Southeast Asia. Excerpt from writings of Dr. William M. Leary, E. Merton coulter Professor of History
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