Arizona republican., 1919-02-21
LUKE GREATEST. EVER
 WENT INTO All"
Eddie Rickenbacker, Pre- mier Ace Of America, Pays
 High Tribute To Famous
 Aviator From This City

Declaring the late Lieutenant Frank Luke, Jr.. to have been "the greatest fighter of them fgl," and making fur ther tribute to the famous aviator of Phoenix, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, premier ace of America, appeared be- fore the National Press club in Wash ington, D. C.
 In q letter which The Republican has received from William Atherton Du Puy is described this subject of greatest interest and pride to the peo- pie of Arizona Mir. Du Puy, now press correspondent in Washington and the head of a news syndicate, was better known here where he spent his boyhood and young manhood as Will s. Mcbride. His letter is as follows:
 February IA. 1919. Editor The Republican,
 Phoenix. Arizona
 Dear Sir:
 Last night Captain Eddie Ricken- packer. the premier American ace, the destroyer of 26 Hun planes. appeared before the National Press club here, told experiences and paid tribute to Prank Luke, of Phoenix. whom he styled the greatest fighter of them all"
 T must stop here" he said at the climax of his speech, "to tell you of Frank Luke. He came into our squadron and I grew to know him well. He was a boy possessed Of the most superb self confidence that have ever encountered. There was no feat so difficult nor so dangerous that he did not consider himself as capable of performing it and there was conse- duently nothing that he was not ready and willing to undertake. The other fellows at first jollied him because of this spirit but. after he began to sub stantiate it by his results, they looked on him in a different way.
 Tt was his superb self-confidence that 6fove Luke to specialize on enemy observation balloons. It is vastly more difficult and dangerous to bring down an observation balloon than a fight ing plane. This is because the balloons are right over the enemy line and are so placed as to be given the greatest possible amount of protection by the enemy anti-aircraft guns and machine guns.
 "The flier who attacked one of these balloons must descend to a level where he was in easy range of the enemy guns. He must be expected 10 be opened up on by these guns of all calibers. He would go through a sea Of bursting shells. There were barages of machine guns that could be thrown up around these balloons. IL was al- most like certain death to attack one of them. So perilous was it that th- Germans credited an aviator with two airDlanes whenever he brought down a balloon.
 'But Luke chose his perilous task as his own. The barages did not exist that were too thick for him. Time after time. he rode into them. performed his mission and rode back. always with the utmost unconcern.
 He came to be a good deal Of privileged character. He did not take readily to discipline anyway. So he would 20 out and get a balloon and fly away 10 some French or British airdrome and visit for day or so. Be cause of this, he had us on the anxious seat all the time for fear he had been lost.
 Finally on his last and greatest day he flew over us and dropped a nfte We had not seen him for two days The note directed our attention to the presence of three army balloons. He advised us to watch them.
 We did so. and one after another We saw these balloons burst into flames and go down. Luke rode through q very sea of lead and explosive on the last of his missions. completed it and. it is supposed. gave his life in so doing He has never been heard from since
 Afterward I talked to Rickenbacker and ttd him that I ----s from Phoenix, that l had known the parents of Luke
 If he had gone on" the ace of aces said. "I would have looked like third rater by now. Luke was the greatest fighter that ever went into the air. If I ever go through Arizona I will stop at Phoenix and look up his father and mother and tell them how great their son was"
 Sincerely yours. W. A. DU PUY.