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ISSUE
156 - February 2011
Over 8,000 Total Ads Listed
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| Courage |
By David Rose,
Contributing Editor
San Diego, California |
In my recent article “There Are
Pilots” which chronicled the exploits of some of the
gifted combat pilots of the world wars, I spoke of the time
it took the various pilots to accomplish their aerial victories.
Examples ranged from Richenbacker’s 26 victories in six
months to Hartmann’s 352 in under four years. I went
on to tell the story of the Luftwaffe pilot Marseille and mentioned
that he was regarded as “the best marksman in the German
Air Force”.
But there was a pilot in the First World War whose name, amazingly, so seldom
surfaces in discussions of renowned pilots that I’m compelled to present
it here in hopes you will read his full story in one of the several excellent
books detailing not just his aerial prowess, but a measure of the man himself.
Frank Luke was born in Phoenix in 1897 making him just 20 when he earned his
wings and found himself assigned to the 1st Pursuit Group, 27th Aero Squadron
on “The Front” in France.
Luke's commander, Maj. H.E. Hartney, would later say of him that, "No one
had the sheer contemptuous courage that boy possessed. He was an excellent pilot
and probably the best flying marksman on the Western Front. We had any number
of expert pilots and there was no shortage of good shots, but the perfect combination,
like the perfect specimen of anything in the world, was scarce. Frank Luke was
the perfect combination." |
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Those
of you familiar with the name of course know Frank Luke as “The
Balloon Buster”, a moniker well earned
for his avowed determination to shoot down balloons. You may
be familiar with the name and moniker, but few of you, I’d
imagine, have ever come to understand the incredible drive
and determination, not to mention great courage it took to
attack the balloons time after time. His passion for destroying
balloons may have sprung from Luke’s first aerial combat
wherein he claimed to have shot down a German fighter,  but
which claim was later dismissed for lack of confirmation. Not
just that, but Luke would be branded a braggart in the squadron
for his loud protestations that he had in fact bagged his first “kill” on
that mission.
After all, for confirmation,
it was impossible to miss sighting a balloon going down in
flames. They were many, and they were effective in allowing
the enemy, on both sides, to see deeply into the other side’s
defenses. In those days the balloons were hydrogen filled as
opposed to today where we always use the inert helium instead.
Expensive as well as effective, the balloons were heavily defended
by anti-aircraft batteries and more often than not, by a flight
of fighters patrolling nearby.
 Whatever
his motivation, on September 12th, 1918, Frank Luke shot down
his first balloon. From the 12th of September until his last
flight on September 29th, Frank Luke would attack and shoot
down 14 German balloons and an additional 4 enemy fighters.
17 days. But in those 17 days he would become one of the most
famous aviators in history and be awarded The Congressional
Medal of Honor. To attack a balloon with an aircraft was considered
so foolhardy as to be suicidal. It was not done. Yet Luke would
succeed time after time where other men would not dare consider
it. His exploits over the front were seen by many; every attack
has its witnesses and their stories; each unique in it’s
detail, each more bravely executed than the last. That Luke
should have had such success against the balloons is unimaginable
given the intensity of their defenses.
On the
29th, just outside Meraux, an American aviator was seen by
the villagers being pursued by large number of German fighters.
The American was observed to fly toward Briers Farm where there
hung several German balloons. In spite of incessant enemy fire
from both the ground defenders and the swarming German fighters,
Luke attacked and destroyed the first balloon, then another
as well. At that point, though himself wounded several times,
he attacked one more observation balloon and the French villagers
watched as it too burst into flames and plummet to the ground. |
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|  Luke then turned and opened fire on
the enemy troops defending the balloons and killed six while
wounding as many more. Wounded and bleeding Luke was forced
to crash land his damaged fighter and though surrounded by German infantry, drew
his .45 pistol and shooting, fell mortally wounded from a bullet in his chest.
“Forced to make a landing and surrounded on all sides
by the enemy, who called on him to surrender, he drew his automatic
pistol and defended himself gallantly until he fell dead from
a wound to the chest.” - Medal of Honor
citation
The entire episode had been witnessed by the horrified villagers
and the German commandant of Meraux, infuriated by the savagery
of the American's attack on his balloons and infantry, was
reported by the villagers to have kicked Luke's body and screamed, "Get
that thing out of my way as quickly as possible."
 The Frank Luke story of courage and determination in those 17 days is available
to you in a number of biographies, two of which I present here based on the shear
efforts expended by their authors to research and find the truth of the events
of those days, as opposed to all the rumor and hype that has emerged regarding
his life and military career.
 Researching
stories that are nearly a century old can require exhaustive
time and resources. Blaine Pardoe’s decision
to tackle this book means that generations will have a resource
on Frank Luke that most could only hope for.
And Buster Norman S. Hall’s enthralling ”The Balloon
Buster”, written in 1931, tells us of the rebellious
and brash airman who grew up in a West that was still pretty
wild, and who left his Arizona home to carve out his fame in
the newest and most untested arena of warfare.
www.salem-news.com/articles/august062008/luke_book_8-3-08.php |
By David Rose, Contributing
Editor
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