A People's History of the U.S. Military by Michael A. Bellesiles

Author:Michael A. Bellesiles [A. Bellesiles, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781595587138
Publisher: The New Press

Cunningham returned to the United States in January 1918, with plans for the joint navy and marines Northern Bombing Group, with the goal of attacking German U-boat bases along the Belgian coast. The plan was approved and in March 1918, Cunningham organized the First Marine Aviation Force, which performed well in the last months of the war. Cunningham was awarded the Navy Cross for his organizational work, retiring from the Marines because of ill health as a major in 1935 and dying four years later.

What the public liked about the war in the air was its single combat between dashing pilots. A few American pilots, such as the ace Edward Rickenbacker, fed that image, but the letters of Hamilton Coolidge provide a more realistic view of flying in wartime. Coolidge, a direct descendent of Thomas Jefferson, attended Groton and Harvard with Theodore Roosevelt’s son Quentin. The two friends enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Service, Coolidge joining the Ninety-fourth Aero Squadron in June 1918. He quickly became an ace, shooting down eight enemy aircraft, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. In the letter below to his mother, he describes aerial combat and the death of Quentin Roosevelt:

Sunday, July 21 [1918] Mother Dear, … From the air it is often difficult to distinguish where the lines are or to tell just what is going on. What you do see are thousands of shell-holes, the frequent flashing of guns, and a great quantity of smoke; sometimes large heavy columns of it, more often hundreds of little streaks of smoke.

Last night, we flew at a very low altitude, quite peacefully for a while, until suddenly, woof! a fierce shock rocked my little ship, and in a few seconds there were many of those disturbing black puffs all around and among us. We all began to squirm and twist and that throws off their aim, but golly, how a close shot makes one jump when it arrives unexpectedly! A group of six Huns appeared, obviously trying to pick a scrap—because why? We were in their territory and half a gale of wind was endeavoring to push us further in. They knew that all they had to do was to keep us bothered for a short while after which our gasoline supply would be insufficient to carry us home against that heavy wind. Even if they did not shoot a single one of us down, we should be forced to land in their territory and become prisoners. But we saw the situation as clearly as did they (for a wonder) and refused to delay a single minute. You can see that it is important to grasp the situation quickly and not to fight when conditions are strong against you, even though there appears to be a tantalizing prey. I’m afraid that that is how poor Quentin was lost. You knew about his loss surely? I think he forgot about the strong wind against him when he saw the Boches. Undoubtedly he fought splendidly, but when it was over, he had drifted still further into Bocheland and had insufficient fuel to come out.

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