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I'll put in my two cents on this one.
It's true, of course, that reputation given to the Lafayette pilots seems almost disproportionate to their actual accomplishments in. This isn't a criticism; all things equal, they performed their assigned duties as well as other French units in that time and place.
When he American press began reporting on the exploits of these guys it was immediately a hit back in the states with the readers. It sold newspapers and business being business, well, you can see where this led. If you recall, James Hall was sent to France to do a series of articles for... um... Atlantic Monthly(?) about the American pilots. The stories never got submitted, of course, for Hall decided to join the corps instead.
Now, that said, I'll point out that many stories that once sold newspapers have faded from our collective consciousness. I think the reason the Lafayette Escadrille story has persevered over the years has much to do with the massive number of books those guys wrote. Think about. I don't believe any squadron of any nation produced as many published first hand accounts. I know that early on when I was a youngster and trying to read every thing I could, I was exposed to Jim Hall, Parsons, and Jim McConnell. In addition there are books written by Bert Hall, Edmond Genet (his letters), Theinualt, and others.
I know there are more. With a little work I bet I could easily find a dozen published books penned by Lafayette fliers. Later, when the historians began writing about Great War aviation, those original accounts became a great resource which in turn caused so many books to be written ABOUT the unit.
At least that's what I think.
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