WWII fighter pilot who flew 161 combat missions in the Pacific, primarily in P-40 Warhawks, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and ten Air Medals. He joined the RI National Guard after the war, and was commander of the 143rd Air Commando Group at the time of his death in 1966.

On Monday, March 7, 1966 an HU-16B Albatross aircraft took off from Hillsgrove and flew to Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. Those aboard were to participate in a conference for a readiness inspection scheduled for the following month.

Work completed, the group took off from Shaw on Wednesday morning, March 9. The flight home offered a good opportunity to practice low-level navigational training. Something went horribly wrong.
The plane, flying at an altitude of between 500 and 1000 feet, crashed about 4 1/2 miles northeast of Smithfield, Virginia. Witnesses reported the plane appeared to have engine problems; it looked as if the
pilots were trying to crash land in a small clearing in the woods.

The two pilots were killed in the crash; Colonel Robert M. Magown, Commander of the 143rd Air Commando Group and Lt Col Edward F. Roberts, Operations Staff Officer, 143rd Air Commando Group. Four others aboard— three guardsmen and an active Air Force advisor—survived with relatively minor injuries. They managed to get out of the passenger compartment just before the plane burst into flames.