Daniel A. McGovern

Daniel A. McGovern (6 December 1909 – 14 December 2005) was the first American to film the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The United States Army Air Forces officer, who was both a combat cameraman and a specialist in assessing the effective of bomb damage, made the films in September 1945. The evidence that McGovern collected from Japan was shown to J. Robert Oppenheimer and the team which created the weapons. Concerned that the US government might censor the images, McGovern kept secret original prints. He made these prints available to US congress in 1967.

Early life Daniel A. McGovern was born in Monaghan, Ireland on 6 December 1909. His father was a sergeant of the Royal Irish Constabulary. After the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 and the Partition of Ireland, Monaghan (along with the Ulster counties of Cavan and Donegal) opted to join the Republic of Ireland. In 1922, 12-year-old McGovern left Ireland emigrated with his family to the United States. Shortly after the United States entered World War Two, McGovern became cameraman-photographer for President Franklin Roosevelt.

Personal life During World War Two, McGovern married Virginia Scott; the pair had four children and were married until her death in March 2005.