Joe,
I'm sure you will get some responses to this one! Arch W. never made it to ace status, let alone tallying 22 victories. I examined
Above The Trenches carefully, going over all the aces from his unit, and I found, if I recall, three victories where AW had taken part, and even those were shares with other crews. Obviously he could have flown with non-aces, but not enough to tally 22 victories.
His writing is entertainment, to be sure, but I would never consider it authoritative Do I recall reading in one of his books that he also invented the dogfight? Supposedly he also destroyed a German aircrasft the very afternoon he arrived at 22 Sqn., and also "for weeks on end" was the acting flight commander. A corporal? I don't think so.
On the other hand he did win the MM. I'm not sure of his "American" status. He was British born, I think, and had moved to the US before the war and then returned in 1914 to enlist.