MacGowan, William Joseph “Bill”, born 26-07-1920 in Benson, Minnesota, 
United States, to to Joseph C. and Mary E. born Donnelly, McGowan, known familiarly as “Bill”. Bill completed high school at Saint Thomas Military Academy in St. Paul 
in 1937 and graduated from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism in September 1942. He worked for United Press in Madison, Wisconsin followed by a stint as editor of the Swift County Monitor-News, his father’s newspaper, before reporting to the Army Air Corps 
for training in early February, 1943.
Following extensive training, McGowan received his 2nd Lieutenant 
commission and pilot wings 
at Eagle Pass, Texas 
in December 1943. MacGohan then went to Harding Field, Baton Rouge, Louisiana for fighter pilot training in the P-47 Thunderbolt, nickname “Jug”. 
While there he married fellow Minnesotan and longtime girlfriend Suzanne “Suki” Schaefer 
on 05-02-1944, at the base chapel. In April 1944 he shipped off to England and shortly after arriving was deployed with the 366th Fighter Group 
as a P-47 pilot in the 391st Fighter Squadron, 
based at RAF Thruxton, Hampshire, under command of Major John A. Carey 
. Lieutenant McGowan made ten sorties and four combat missions as part of a number of P-47 fighter sweeps over France leading up to the D-Day invasion. On June 6, 1944, while on his 3rd mission of the day, Lieutenant McGowan’s P-47 was hit while leading a flight of P-47’s strafing the railroad station at Lison, located approximately 10 miles southwest of Omaha Beach. The plane crashed in a field near the village of Moon-sur-Elle. 
Not yet 24-years old, Lieutenant. McGowan, age 23, was survived by Suki, his wife of just 4 months, as well as his parents and younger sisters, Patricia and Mary Jo.
For nearly 75-years, Lieutenant McGowan had been listed as Missing-In-Action given the severe nature of the crash and subsequent fire. Following an extensive site in 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on 13,-05-2019, that the remains of Lieutenant McGowan had been positively identified. Lieutenant. McGowan was posthumously awarded the Air Medal 
and Purple Heart. 
The delayed internment of Lieutenant McGowan’s remains due to the pandemic took place in France in 2022 at the Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer with numerous family and friends in attendance. The ceremony also included the placement of a rosette next to his name on the Walls of the Missing indicating Lt. McGowan’s remains have been recovered. The burial of Lt. McGowan at Normandy American Cemetery was only the 2nd since the cemetery was dedicated in 1956.
(July 9, 2022) – U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lieutenant William Joseph “Bill” McGowan was laid to rest at the Normandy American Cemetery (NAC), Plot J. Row 21. Grave 35. Route du Cimetière Américain, 14710 Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Today, nearly 80 years after he was killed during operations in France during World War II on June 6,1944.
Plaque in the cemetery of Moon Sur Elle, Normandy, France near the crash site.
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