Raoul Lufberry, Quentin Roosevelt, son of ex-President Roosevelt, and
Edward Rickenbacher were names that figured extensively in news of the
American air forces.
Lufberry and Roosevelt were killed in action. Rickenbacher, after dozens
of hair-raising escapes from death, came through the war without
injury. The pioneer of American aviators in the war was William Thaw of
Yale, who formed the original Lafayette Escadrille.
Besides these men, America produced a number of other brilliant aces, an
ace being one who brought down five enemy planes, each victory being
attested by at least three witnesses.
The French had as their outstanding aces Georges Guynemer and Rene
Fonck. Guynemer went into the flying game as a mechanician. He became
the most formidable human fighting machine on the western front before
he was sent to death in a blazing airplane.
Lieut. Rene Fonck ended the war with a total of seventy-five official
aerial victories. He had an additional forty Huns to his credit but not
officially confirmed. His greatest day was when he brought down six
planes. His quickest work was the shooting down of three Germans in
twenty seconds.
He fought three distinct battles in the air when, on May 8, 1918, he
brought down six German airplanes in one day. All three engagements were
fought within two hours.
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