Saturday, September 29, 2018

Frank Luke -- September 29, 2018

Arizona Republican, 12-December-1918
American balloon buster Frank Luke, whose career at the front lasted from 12-September-1918 to 29-September-1918, destroyed 14 enemy balloons and 4 airplanes.  Arizona, which had only been a state since 1912, was very proud of him.  Luke was wounded by machine gun fire from the ground while attacking a balloon on 29-September-1918.  He pulled his service sidearm to shoot at approaching German shoulders, but died of his wound.  The Germans buried him.  When I went to look for newspaper reports of his death, I found that it was not reported until after the Armistice.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Mohave County Miner, 30-November-1918

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for this timely remembrance of an American soldier and flyer of the famed 95th Aero Squadron. Another brave hero of the Great War. Luke Air Force Base in Arizona is named in Frank Luke's honor. I forgot he was a recipient of the Medal of Honor. Thanks again for a nice historical piece.

October 12, 2018 at 6:47 PM
Joe Thompson said...

Hi Walter. Thank you for the kind words. I have always admired Frank Luke. I was interested to see that reports of his death were not in the newspapers until after the Armistice.

October 13, 2018 at 7:31 PM

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