Major Raoul Lufbery
One of the most widely known
and most popular of the American World War I flyers was Raoul Lufbery, a native Frenchman
who had become an American citizen. He was one of several Americans serving with the
French Air Service who later joined the all-American Lafayette
Escadrille. Lufbery scored 17 victories during the war. He also advised 
his pilots to stay with their planes, even if they
began to burn - one of the most dangerous possibilities in those days of fabric-covered
aircraft. On May 19, 1918, however, he ignored his own advice and paid the full price.
Lufbery's machine was hit by enemy bullets and began to burn. Two hundred feet above the
ground, he jumped, apparently aiming at a nearby stream. Instead, he landed on a picket
fence and was killed. The following day, in an impressive funeral that was witnessed by
hundreds and recorded on film, Lufbery was buried in the cemetery at the Sebastopol
Hospital. In the village of Maron, near the Moselle River, a bronze tablet marks the place
where he fell. Lufbery's remains were later moved to Lafayette Memorial du Parc de
Garches in Paris.
From Aerospace: The Challenge by H. Bacon, M. Schrier, P. McGill, and G. Hellinga, Civil Air Patrol, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, Third Edition 1989.