Baylies, Frank Leamon b. September 23, 1895 d. June 17, 1918 Aviation "Ace" of the First World War. A native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, he joined the United States Ambulance Service in 1916. After seeing action on the Western Front and in Serbia, he enlisted in the French Air Service in May 1917. After earning his pilot's wings, he was assigned to Spa 73 at Dunkirk in November 1917. A month later, he joined the Storks Group as a pilot with Spa 3. In early 1918, Baylies refused a commission with the United States Air Service, preferring to remain with...[Read More] Lafayette Escadrille Memorial, Marnes-la-Coquette, Departement des Hauts-de-Seine, Ile-de-France, France
Lufbery, Maj. Raoul (Gervais Raoul) b. March 14, 1895 d. May 19, 1918 Aviation combat ace of the First World War. Born at Chamalieres, France, Lufbery emigrated to the United States with his family when he was six years old. When the war began, he returned to France and joined the French Air Service. After serving for nearly four years in the French Air Service and the Lafayette Escadrille, he joined the United States Air Service as an instructor. Idolized by his subordinates and revered by his peers, he was killed in action as he attempted to down a German...[Read More] Cause of death: His plane was hit by enemy fire Lafayette Escadrille Memorial, Marnes-la-Coquette, Departement des Hauts-de-Seine, Ile-de-France, France
McConnell, James Rogers b. March 14, 1887 d. March 19, 1917 Famed combat pilot of the First World War. A native of Chicago, he became a member of the renowned Lafayette Escadrille of American volunteers. After graduating from the Haverford School in Pennsylvania, he entered theUniversity of Virginia in 1907. He spent two years in the College and a year in the Law School, withdrawing from his studies in the spring of 1910. After several years in business in New York and in Carthage, North Carolina, where he served as land and industrial agent for a small...[Read More] (Bio by: Warrick L. Barrett) Lafayette Escadrille Memorial, Marnes-la-Coquette, Departement des Hauts-de-Seine, Ile-de-France, France
Putnam, David Endicott b. 1898 d. September 12, 1918 A descendent of Revolutionary War hero Israel Putnam, David Putnam, born at Jamaica Plains and a resident of Brookline, MA was president of his class, an outstanding orator and superb athlete at Harvard. He dropped out and joined the French Air Service after hitchhiking overseas on a cattle boat. After serving with the French, which included a single-handed engagement with ten German aircraft in which he downed five of the ten, Putnam was commissioned into the American Air Service in June 1918...[Read More] Cause of death: Dogfight in combat Lafayette Escadrille Memorial, Marnes-la-Coquette, Departement des Hauts-de-Seine, Ile-de-France, France
Rockwell, Kiffin Yates b. September 20, 1892 d. September 22, 1916 Fighter Pilot. Born in Newport, Tennessee, the son of James Chester Rockwell, a Baptist minister, and Loula Ayres. Upon his father's death, shortly after Kiffin's birth, the family moved to South Carolina, and later to Asheville, North Carolina. He attended the Virginia Military Institute from 1908 to 1909 then transferred to Washington and Lee University. He left college in 1911 and worked for an advertising agency in Atlanta until 1914 when hostilities in Europe broke out. He and his brother...[Read More] (Bio by: Iola) Lafayette Escadrille Memorial, Marnes-la-Coquette, Departement des Hauts-de-Seine, Ile-de-France, France
b. September 23, 1895 d. June 17, 1918