A true American Hero

[stephen]

I haven't taken the time to read all the posts here 'cause I figger I know what most of you will say anyway.

For FL haters and admirers alike, suffice to say that you should keep an eye on the ol' Forum. News is on the way. Soon.

Well I thought I read somewhere that it was an SE5 but then again maybe it was a Spad, they were both very popular machines.

whether he believed the propoganda or not, he was still faced by the enemy. where is your patriotism? also, I have NOTHING against Germans and I also had great repsect for the German military of World War 1. If Germany wasn't screwed over so badly by the Treaty of Versailles there never would have been Nazism, meaning no Holocaust. So don't presume that I am blindly spouting off unfounded jibberish. I am no fool and I see all sides. I am just stating that whether he was made ignorant by propoganda or not; in sound mind or not, what he did was still very courageous.

LOL Vin! thanks for the link. I am not offended that you think I am spouting off a fairy tale, nor am I offended that you have this idea that I hate Germans! I think it's quite funny. All I was saying isnthat what he did was courageous, that's all. If you do not agree with me or if you think I am making up a wild tale, or in any way exgerating anything, then that's your right to do so. But don't try to insult me.

You are very right.

Thank you for your wonderful post. Alvin C. York and Frank Luke both deserve a place in all American's hearts as a hero in their own way.

Thanks for correcting me! I hate not knowin g the truth, hehehe. BUT, I do know that their had to have been at least one Aerosquadron that flew the SE5. I can not remember the pilot's name, but their was a USAS pilot who flew the Se5, and even improved on it. But don't quote me on this, I'll have to look up who it was, and I might find out that I'm mistaken (again).

Excellent, thanks for filling me in. 27th flying Spad XIII's huh? Okay I'll have to remember that. Why the hell did I thnk 90th or 92nd with SE5's? I dunno sometimes I'm not thinking straight.

[leo]

The Frank Luke story is one of heroic proportions.
I think Frank Luke did what he did not because of a sense of duty or a code, but because of who he was, his life experiences that developed his character. I don't think he was uniquely American, either. Luke was a type. There are Frank Lukes living with us today. They are difficult people to understand and like. They have turned out to be different from the rest of us. Some of us admire the Frank Lukes of the world, while failing to understand them. Others neither understand or admire them.

Warfare does strange things to people. It's hard to predict which man will do something heroic or cowardly. In the First World War, as in most wars, neither side had a monopoly on virtue. German fliers were every bit as dedicated, loyal and brave as the Allied pilots (and often better trained and equiped). Robert E. Lee (who knew a little about warfare) said that it is a good thing that war is so horrible, lest we grow to love it. I believe that Luke was very brave, but that he took the loss of his wingmen personally. There is nothing as impersonal as warfare. You kill strangers because they wear the other sides uniform. If you don't kill them, they kill you. If you surrender, you're entrusting your life to the men who just tried to kill you. Logic doesn't fair well in this situation.