Aviator. Born in Goshen Springs, Mississippi, he was a student at Mississippi State College, when he volunteered for the aviation section of the US Army Signal Corps at the start of World War I. He later went to England, for flight training and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps assigned to the 41st Squadron in 1917. Placed on active duty at the front as a pilot, he participated in many actions and was credited with the ground destruction of five enemy aircraft and three enemy aircraft through aerial combat. In October 1918, he joined the US Army Air Corps as a 1st Lieutenat in the 25th Aero Squadron in France and was credited as an ace. After the war he became a test pilot for various plane companys. On August 11, 1926, while testing a Douglas O-2 airplane over McCook Field Dayton, Ohio, he did not recover from a flat spin and as he parachuted, it caught in the wing's brace wires, causing him to fall to his death. Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, is named in his honor.
Aviator. Born in Goshen Springs, Mississippi, he was a student at Mississippi State College, when he volunteered for the aviation section of the US Army Signal Corps at the start of World War I. He later went to England, for flight training and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps assigned to the 41st Squadron in 1917. Placed on active duty at the front as a pilot, he participated in many actions and was credited with the ground destruction of five enemy aircraft and three enemy aircraft through aerial combat. In October 1918, he joined the US Army Air Corps as a 1st Lieutenat in the 25th Aero Squadron in France and was credited as an ace. After the war he became a test pilot for various plane companys. On August 11, 1926, while testing a Douglas O-2 airplane over McCook Field Dayton, Ohio, he did not recover from a flat spin and as he parachuted, it caught in the wing's brace wires, causing him to fall to his death. Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, is named in his honor.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
Inscription
1st Lieutenant, Air Corps, U.S. Army
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