ESPN.com - CLASSIC - SportsCentury biography of Nile Kinnick

On June 2, 1943, Nile Kinnick Jr., American College Football Hall of Fame halfback and Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Iowa, died at the age of 24 during a WWII training flight. From the article:

"In August 1941, Kinnick decided war was imminent and joined the Naval Air Corps Reserve. While waiting to be called to active duty, he was an assistant coach for Iowa that fall. On December 4, three days before Pearl Harbor, he reported for duty.
"There is no reason in the world why we shouldn't fight for the preservation of a chance to live freely," he later wrote in a letter home. "No reason why we shouldn't suffer to uphold that which we want to endure. May God give me the courage to do my duty and not falter."
On June 2, 1943, Kinnick was flying a training mission from the U.S.S. Lexington off the coast of Venezuela when he experienced engine problems. Rather than try a dangerous landing on the Lexington and endangering personnel, he attempted an emergency landing into the Caribbean.
Although a boat arrived on the scene within eight minutes, and rescue parties searched for several hours, Kinnick's body was never found amid the oil slick. Nile Kinnick was 24.
"I never had a shock like that in my life," said Al Couppee, blocking quarterback on the 1939 Hawkeyes. "Hell, I thought he was going to live forever."
Nile Kinnick's name certainly has. He was inducted into the charter class of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951, and not only did the Hawkeyes retire his No. 24, they named the football stadium in his honor in 1972."