Quintessential Soldier of Fortune, globe-trotter and big game hunter. Before Rice was 18 he had become a brigadier general in the Honduras revolutionary army. In the ensuing years, he served with Garcia as an officer in the Cuban revolution, later rising from private to captain in the American forces in the Spanish-American War. He fought in the Philippines and in the Boxer uprising in China. He enlisted as a private in World War I and in four months had risen to the rank of major in the air corps. He was the first American to command an aviation squadron-American pilots with the British Expeditionary Forces, flying American planes in France. After the Armistice, Colonel Rice was with the army of occupation and later went to Russia, Warsaw, and Odessa. He supervised 250,000 Russians in Constantinople. There he met Count Anatole Patapoff, a counter-revolutionist, and enabled him to come to Willmar, where he worked for several months in the Bank of Willmar, of which his father A. E. Rice was president. He was the inspiration for the adventuresome character of "Captain Macklin" in a novel by Richard Harding Davis, who reportedly stated that in writing the book he "stepped on the soft pedal, because if I told the truth (about his life) the world wouldn't believe it in a novel." When he was not traveling, Colonel Rice divided his time between Cuba, in his Havana apartment or on his cattle ranch, and New York, at the Army and Navy Club. He built himself a summer estate on the northwest shore of Green Lake, where he spent more and more of his time. Colonel Rice never completely recovered from his war injuries and the gassing in World War I that permanently damaged his lungs. His faithful Chinese servant of thirty years, Lin Foy, accompanied him on his travels and was responsible for all the duties of the Green Lake summer home. Here it was on September 4, 1932, that Col. Rice died at the age of 54.
Quintessential Soldier of Fortune, globe-trotter and big game hunter. Before Rice was 18 he had become a brigadier general in the Honduras revolutionary army. In the ensuing years, he served with Garcia as an officer in the Cuban revolution, later rising from private to captain in the American forces in the Spanish-American War. He fought in the Philippines and in the Boxer uprising in China. He enlisted as a private in World War I and in four months had risen to the rank of major in the air corps. He was the first American to command an aviation squadron-American pilots with the British Expeditionary Forces, flying American planes in France. After the Armistice, Colonel Rice was with the army of occupation and later went to Russia, Warsaw, and Odessa. He supervised 250,000 Russians in Constantinople. There he met Count Anatole Patapoff, a counter-revolutionist, and enabled him to come to Willmar, where he worked for several months in the Bank of Willmar, of which his father A. E. Rice was president. He was the inspiration for the adventuresome character of "Captain Macklin" in a novel by Richard Harding Davis, who reportedly stated that in writing the book he "stepped on the soft pedal, because if I told the truth (about his life) the world wouldn't believe it in a novel." When he was not traveling, Colonel Rice divided his time between Cuba, in his Havana apartment or on his cattle ranch, and New York, at the Army and Navy Club. He built himself a summer estate on the northwest shore of Green Lake, where he spent more and more of his time. Colonel Rice never completely recovered from his war injuries and the gassing in World War I that permanently damaged his lungs. His faithful Chinese servant of thirty years, Lin Foy, accompanied him on his travels and was responsible for all the duties of the Green Lake summer home. Here it was on September 4, 1932, that Col. Rice died at the age of 54.
Bio by: Rae Bordua
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