This is a concise but comprehensive history about the Lafayette Escadrille, a celebrated unit of the French airforce that was manned by American volunteers during World War I. From the preface: "You have told this story of heroism with a sincere simplicity which recommends it not only to literary critics but to all young people who take delight in noble deeds. To obtain this result all you needed was to tell what you had done and what you had seen. The first American volunteers of your escadrille began their service in the ...
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This is a concise but comprehensive history about the Lafayette Escadrille, a celebrated unit of the French airforce that was manned by American volunteers during World War I. From the preface: "You have told this story of heroism with a sincere simplicity which recommends it not only to literary critics but to all young people who take delight in noble deeds. To obtain this result all you needed was to tell what you had done and what you had seen. The first American volunteers of your escadrille began their service in the Foreign Legion. They wished to fight to defend Liberty, which France incarnated and protected. Some months later, as aviation developed, they were able to begin their training as pilots. In April, 1916, the creation of the American escadrille was decided, and from that moment this escadrille took part in every great action. During twenty-one months it was to be seen over every important battlefield. First came Verdun, where you won your earliest glorious laurels with 146 fights and 13 enemy planes defeated. Then the Vosges, and the Somme-a period when the supremacy of allied aviation became manifest, a period of heroic combats, in which the Sioux, which you took as your emblem, won a terrible reputation in the enemy's ranks. It was then that you became the "Lafayette Escadrille." In the United States the exploits of your escadrille had-I could see that for myself-a great moral influence, and the example of your volunteers was an inspiration to many of their countrymen. We never doubted what America's decision would be; but since your pilots were the forerunners theirs will be the glory. The war dragged on and you never rested. . . . After the Somme came the battle of the Aisne, then Flanders, then the return to Verdun where you collaborated in the recapture of the Mort-Homme and the Hill 304. A magnificent citation was the reward of your splendid efforts. I desire to reproduce it here: Escadrille formed of American volunteers come to fight for France in the purest spirit of sacrifice, carried on without truce under the command of Captain Thenault a burning struggle against our enemies."
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