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Fly Boys

STORY PREFACE

Story Summary

http://awesomestories.com/images/user/528b668b9d.jpg

                                     Photograph of a 1917 World War I Nieuport French Fighter Plane.  Image online courtesy BNF, Paris.

 

We fly very low,
so you can imagine
what two machine guns
on each aeroplane,
flying full in the face of the enemy,
can do. It is very exciting work.

Stephen Tyson
Member, Lafayette Flying Corps
France
May 1, 1918

 

In the summer of 1914, slightly more than a decade after the Wright Brothers had invented powered flight, Europe erupted in a “war to end all wars.” Although the United States remained neutral until the spring of 1917, many Americans supported France, a longstanding U.S. ally.

Needing more pilots, French military officials welcomed young Americans desiring to help France. Not content with mere idealism, they wanted to fly combat missions.

This is their story.

 

 

Key to Color-Coded Links

Original Release Date:  August, 2008
Updated Quarterly, or as Needed

To cite this story, using MLA Guidelines:

Bos, Carole D. "Fly Boys" AwesomeStories.com. Date of access
       <http://www.awesomestories.com/flicks/fly-boys>.

IN OTHER WORDS: Author. Title of story. Name of web site. Date of access <URL>.