A true American Hero

Who can deny that Frank Luke, Jr. was not a true Hero of America? Rarely is one endowed with a warrior spirit such as his.

If you don't know about Frank Luke, Jr., I say this about him because on his final mission, he was shot down doing the most dangerous attack a fighter pilot could do, balloon busting. Wounded, he managed to crash-land his plane (I believe it was an Se5-a at the time). He was surrounded by German troops, ordering him to surrender. Instead, he pulled out his sidearm and shot at the soldiers. Regardless of how futile an effort, he knew it wouldn't work but he didn't want to surrender; he opted for the warriors way out. He was shot dead, his sidearm emptied.

All during his career, he was a loner and a daredevil. Some say that is foolishnhess. Whether it is or isn't, it served him well. He was the most succesfull balloon buster, and for a time in extremely close compitition with Rickenbacker as America's leading ace, leading him for a time. He was extremely devoted to his only close friend in his squad (I'm not sure but I think it was the 90th or 92nd), and when his friend was killed, Luke Jr. went on a rampage, trying to beat his own record of balloons burned to avenge is friend (His friend's surname was Wehrner [how ironic, eh!?], though I think my spelling is off).

Frank Luke, Jr. didn't accomplish this so he set out again. On this final attempt he met his warrior's end. He was a true Knight of the Sky.

[leo]

SE5? For some reason, I thought he flew a SPAd.

leo

[Shooter]

Frank Luke Jr. had two wingmen during the eighteen days he was active on the Western Front, both of whom were KIA's protecting him on balloon missions. They were Joe Wehner and Ivan Roberts.

Luke's squadron was the 27th Pursuit.

call me a coward... I write music, draw, play the guitar, and play video games in my spare time... mostly the latter... but I don't think I would have gone out in a blaze of glory like Mr. Luke. it wouldn't have serviced his country all that much by killing a dozen guys or so... and my sense of self preservation would kick in... besides... if I were taken prisoner I might even be able to pick the language. guess I'd rather live as a prisoner knowing that they were definitely losing the war then die fighting. what good would the sacrifice of my life be? I guess I'm disrespecting Mr. Luke on this point... but I'm not sure he his methods exhibited sound judgement. Maybe he was grounded unjustly, but losing two wingmen in 18 days, one of whom was a friend, seems like he just wasn't cutting the mustard and so they decided to 'give him a breather.' Wasn't it Dietrich Hrabak who said something to the effect that 'if you come back from a mission with a victory and lose your wingman that you lost your battle'? Maybe Luke thought this way too... and that's why he made this unusual choice.. was it ballsy, yes, was it audacious, certainly... but was it smart? not in this fellow's opinion. He's a hero... but American's have a long-standing love affair with renegades, loners, and outlaws... this country was founded by them... I like to compare them to terrorists because the early Americans felt they were opposing an unjust and oppressive regime... and they certainly were! Mr. Luke was certainly not a terrorist, not by any means... but before we lionize people let's consider what their sacrifice brought about... and I'll be damned for saying this (at least figuratively by others , but Luke's sacrifice didn't bring about very much... I can only understand it if he was so embittered at the prospect of imminent death or was so ethnocentric and blinded by hate of his enemies that he decided his life wasn't worth it and attacked those soldiers. but then again, some people seem to be meant for war, and it is in such circumstances that we see the true measure of their courage and strength... hah hah... I just AIN't one of those people... and by golly, I'm glad we have them around to protect the rest of us.
please direct your hate mail to....

Maybe Lieutenant Luke just believed the Allied propaganda that the Germans were all evil. You know, part of the reason that the Americans didn't believe the rumors about the Holocaust was that the World War One propaganda was discovered to be largely fictional.

[Vin]

John,

You might find the following site to be of interest.

http://www.learn-line.nrw.de/Themen/Maerchen/emedio.htm


Vin

Well,
Personnaly I would give two names for Frank Luke: Heroe and Silly.
Ok he destroyed a lot of ballons in few times but by his fault two other men were killed.
And he wasn't the most succeful ballon buster! 8 aces made better than him. The better was Willy Coppens.
He didn't surrended when he was surrounded. It is an act of heroism but it is also an act of silliness.
Well, forgive my awful english.

[Rod_Filan]

Tom,

I doubt FL was convinced that Germans were evil as propaganda made them out to be. Both Frank's and Joe's ancestry was German. JW was actually detained before arriving in France, if I recall correctly.

If you believe Hartney (truth of which is speculative) the fact these two young men were not of "English" blood made them outcasts and fueled their commitment to prove themselves. In "Up and at 'Em", HH's description of FL's personna; the realization of the futility of this war, was a partial factor in molding Frank into the man he became in the end. His life until then was spent in an environment in total juxtaposition to this strange surreal moonscape full of death and destruction.

Frank Luke was a tragic character but unfortunately America/Hollywood chose to idolize another hero from the Great War (Sgt. York), and without the popularization by a fine actor such as Gary Cooper; his legend quickly faded. I can only hope that someday soon, this will be rectified, and finally he will take his place alongside the great tragic American heros of the 20th century. A story as diverse and unique as those told of Casey Jones, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and the crew of the Challanger.

VBR
Ro§bud

[Billy_Bishop]

Luke's squadron flew the SPAD XIII. As far as I know, NO USAS unit flew the SE-5a in combat.

VBR,

Al Lowe

[Rod_Filan]

Photo of FL standing in front of his SPAD XIII - taken the day after Joe Wehner was killed. Sep. 19, 1918 at Rembercourt.<p align="center">[/center]<p align="left">See Dan Conover's The 27th Pursuit Squadron and the Saga of Frank Luke Jr. for the best online account of this facinating aviator.

VBR
Ro§bud
Ro§bud's WWI Aviation Image Archive