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Gregvan · 8 July 2007, 04:35 PM

Hi All,

Yes, it was largely the Lafayette's volunteerism, the propaganda aspect, and the sacrifice they made that made them national heroes - not the number of airplanes they shot down. Don't forget that many of these guys came from very wealthy families, volunteered when the USA wasn't even at war, and gave their lives for France. The fact that many of them did come from blueblooded "old money" families also played a big part in keeping their memory and their glory alive long after the war. Norman Prince's father spent loads of money to glorify his dead son's name - at the expense of

William Thaw and others - and eventually had his body disinterred from French soil and reburied in a vault in the National Cathedral in D.C.

Unfortunately, some of the guys who flew with the Lafayette Flying Corps did claim, or did nothing to refute the mistaken impression, that they had flown in the Lafayette Escadrille N124. Even more galling was that a lot of guys that never got to France claimed it too! In 1932 the press carried the story of a so-called amnesiac's claim that he was Andrew Courtney Campbell, who really didn't die on 1 October 1917 but was alive after all those years. Turns out he was really George Reynolds, a Navy deserter from WWI. Even the German pilot who shot Campbell down refuted this guy's claim!

Greg

8 July 2007, 04:35 PM	#3 (permalink)
Gregvan Forum Ace of Aces Contributor Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: St. Charles, Iowa Posts: 3,626	Hi All, Yes, it was largely the Lafayette's volunteerism, the propaganda aspect, and the sacrifice they made that made them national heroes - not the number of airplanes they shot down. Don't forget that many of these guys came from very wealthy families, volunteered when the USA wasn't even at war, and gave their lives for France. The fact that many of them did come from blueblooded "old money" families also played a big part in keeping their memory and their glory alive long after the war. Norman Prince's father spent loads of money to glorify his dead son's name - at the expense of William Thaw and others - and eventually had his body disinterred from French soil and reburied in a vault in the National Cathedral in D.C. Unfortunately, some of the guys who flew with the Lafayette Flying Corps did claim, or did nothing to refute the mistaken impression, that they had flown in the Lafayette Escadrille N124. Even more galling was that a lot of guys that never got to France claimed it too! In 1932 the press carried the story of a so-called amnesiac's claim that he was Andrew Courtney Campbell, who really didn't die on 1 October 1917 but was alive after all those years. Turns out he was really George Reynolds, a Navy deserter from WWI. Even the German pilot who shot Campbell down refuted this guy's claim! Greg __________________ Greg VanWyngarden Last edited by Gregvan; 8 July 2007 at 06:40 PM.