140: WWI Aviators: From the Lafayette Escadrille to the Red Baron and More

“Something has happened to one of the boys.”

This is the story of the Great War’s flyboys – particularly, Americans taking to the skies to fight for France.

Long before the United States will enter the Great War, hundreds of American men head to Europe to fight for the French Republic. Some drive ambulances. Some fight in the French Foreign Legion. But come 1916,some begin to fly.

In 1916,seven pilots (our “Flying Founders,” if you will) start an American squadron within France’s Aéronautique Militaire. Ultimately, 38 men will fly in this squad. They’ll shoot whiskey, have a pet lion cub named “Whiskey” (as well as a second named “Soda”), and risk it all, wielding machine guns amid the clouds. These are the men of the famous Lafayette Escadrille. They number among the 269 Americans who fly for France, collectively known as the Lafayette Flying Corps.

It’s a romanticized fight. The Great War’s pilots are known as the “knights of the sky.” They’re the era’s heroes. Rockstars. But the death rate is steep. The heartbreak is real. That’s particularly true as the beloved son of a US President goes down in flames …

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