davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01

peal which it hol DIS for the members
of the organization itself, observes
the editor, eve venture to believe
the book also possesses a large
measure of interest for all Ameri-
cans whose hearts were in the war
and whose hopes were centred upon
the achievements of American fight
ing men,"
The financing which made posi-
BILE the books production is unique.
Every cent of the large amount
necessarily called for was sub
:cribed and actually paid in before
a line of type had been set. And
all Of it, we are told, came from
the pockets Of the members of the
18th, mostly saved from monthly
salaries of $50"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01

of the Annapolitans was one to con-
vert the Quakers of Philadelphia an
attempt worthy learned and dissi-
pated society,"
ut may be wondered whether the
descendants of the Marquis de la
Fayette in France realize that after
the Revolution the General Assembly,
sitting at Annapolis, made him and
his heirs male forever natural born
citizens of Maryland Do they know
that pretty little Annapolis is legally,
if they would have it SO, still their
home? A privilege a Frenchman to-
day might proudly wear in his button
hole, as if it were the Legion of Honor
THE haze of the Golden Age still
fingers over Annapolis, like the glow
on landscape of some old painter.
But the Golden Age is gone"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01

ut was termed at once the Athens
and the Paris Of America. In the sim
gularly happy phrase of local his
torian, Annapolis was the rendezvous
o. learned and dissipated society," a
combination so engaging that it seems
at once to set a standard for fashion,
able folk, in the hope of finding which
one would even now travel the world
over.
"The town was full of British off
Gals, rich Maryland tobacco planters
and merchants, Virginia gentlemen and
their families, holiday making lovely
actresses on tour, French hairdressers,
racetrack touts, leading jurists and
savants. For years, even after the
Revolution, the Jockey Club of An
napolis was the most famous club in
America
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01

he had deserted. Flight leaders, anx-
ious to maintain the continuity of the
flights they led, sulked.
of on His O,un
"'This young chap they said,
won't fly formation. We plug along
together while he goes off on his own
They even doubted him-till little
by little his victories ran up.
Brother said one of his mates,
coming back to the airdrome after
having seen him dive for drachen
and send it down in flames, don't
ever tell me that mans yellow
ITO the end, however, formation fly
ing was too mild proposition for him.
"The other characteristic was his de-
termination to get balloons. He talked
DEMONSTRATIONS balloons all the
time. What sort of ammunition could
he get and what about incendiary bull
lets? He worked with an eleven-milli-
metre Vickers, with a special incend-
airy bullet. This gun had never, since
the beginning of the war, been success
full; the French had had no confidence
in it. But Luke came along and proved
it so effective that with the Americans
it came into fairly general use as an
anti-balloon gun. AS balloon hunters
the Americans led all; and out of the
half-hundred balloons shot down by
the Americans from August / on all
but two were got by the LIST Pursuit
Group, which included the 9th Squad
ron, and Luke was responsible for
close to twenty of them.
Luke got his first official Hun on
September II, the day the St. Mihiel
drive began. 1t was not the first enemy
he had downed, however; some time
earlier on the Chateau Thierry sector
he had struggled back to the airdrome,
having left formation, and as he
climbed out of his Newport had said
to his squadron commander:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01
Frank Luke, Jr., End Lieuten-
ant, A. S., H. M. A. Killed in
action.
Photo from The U. S. Air Service.
Photo from The q. S.

"Well, I got one at last He had
sighted an enemy formation going into
Germany and had got the rear man.
The boy went down Topping over and
over, he said. The victory could never
be confirmed, and as Luke had no def
mite idea as to where he had been
when he had downed the German there
is no way of tracing it.
ION September IL near Pont-a -Mous-
son there was an important enemy bal
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01

after some drachens that had been
spotted to the east of Verdun. This
time, following system they had
evolved, whereby each acted alter
nately as gunman and guard, Wehner
was to get the balloons while Luke,
flying high above, protected him. Five
enemy planes darted at Wehner, and
Luke, as he dropped to his aid, saw
his partner go, down. Luke accounted
for two Germans in the combat that
followed; then something went wrong
with his motor and he dived for his
own line, seven kilometres away; as he
went he shot down two Of the balloons
in flames. He was part way home, run
ming on his auxiliary tank, when he
saw Arches firing to the north near
Verdun, and, figuring that he could
not make his own airdrome, he decided
that he might as we'll land near Ver-
dun, SO he headed in that direction and
came upon two Frenchmen engaging a
German two scatter. Officers Of an
American division, on the line at that
point, told about an American pilot
'dashing in and getting the German,
who fell inside our lines. Luke with
his crippled ship came down in an
abandoned French airdrome near Ver-
dun. He spent the night with an
American artillery battery, and the
message Of his victories was relayed to
his homo headouor+oro
"He had got three planes and two
balloons that day within space of
thirty minutes.
His group commander flew over to
pick him up next morning; on the way
he passed the crashed enemy ship
with the dead Germans beside it. and
later sighted Luke's Spad in the
abandoned airdrome. Luke wanted to
know about Wehner. Had he come
back? His face fell when he was told
that Wehner had not returned and
that there was no news of him. In
the midst of the battle of the day be-
fore, as he had caught a glimpse of
his falling partner, he had not, of
course, been able to judge of his fate.
He wanted to believe that at the worst
he had been captured and, like his
comrades. he chung to that hope until
the Boche dropped a list over our
lines giving Wehner's name among
others of our men who had been killed
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01
The End

He went over at very high alb.
tude, and not far from directly above
the drachens was intercepted by ten
enemy machines. He engaged all Of
them and got two. and then. out Of
control or pretending that he was
dropped till he got to the level of the
balloons and then-one-two--t three
he shot them down in flames. The
Archie fire round the second balloon
was particularly heavy. Luke disas
peared. Nc further information cane
from him or any other source until
after the armistice.
But as the representatives Of the
Sed Cross followed in the wake Of the
advancing American army. they can't
to the village of Murvaux and thes
they learned the whole story.
Murvaux had been filled with Ger
man soldiers, in rest bllets probable
Luxe swept over the town, flying lot
below the level of the hills Hh
motor may have been hurt; perhaps
ne was wounded; but he did not lsne
at once. Instead, when he saw de-
tachment of German troops in the vi
iage street, he turned about, snf
noslng down, strafed them. lie kines
eleven and wounded others; thsf
swerved and landed in a field not t'
from stream.
Some of the people of MurssSi
saw him climb out of his machine ant
saw him start for the stream as il %
get water. BY this time several Ger
mans had made for him. AS if
realized they would get him before
reached the river, he ran back to NJ
ship for his automatic. 1t is not clcH
that he had an opportunity to shoe
t 1t is not clear whether he was kills.
by the Germans who were close upos
him or by rifle bullet fired from dh
lance. Suddenly he dropped by III
ship, his automatic in his hand, az
the Germans closed round.
when at last the people of Mar's
were allowed to bury him they founVs
great wound in his chest
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01
Wehner

ut is not out of place to mention
briefly here the record of Joseph Fritz
Wehner, first lieutenant, R. NJ. A. This
young officer was from Everett, Mass.
After training in America and France
he was attached to the 9th Aero
Squadron simultaneously with Luke,
and, as has been suggested, the friend
ship between them, which had started
several months previously, continued
unbroken; in all his exploits before
his death it was with Wehner and
Wehner alone with whom Luke asked
to fly. Before he was brought down
on September 20 Wehner had been
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01
Story of Frank Luke, Americas Greatest Air Raide

JUNE, 1917, Frank Luke, jr.,
was a schoolboy at Phoenix,
Il Ariz. Fifteen months later he
was the greatest of America S
air raiders on the battle front in
S1ance. and before his deeds of
fame had become known he was
dead on the field Of honor, Septem-
Der 20, 1918. In seventeen days he
had shot down eighteen Hun planes
and balloons.
The Congressional Medal Of
Honor. Americas supreme decora-
ton, has just been awarded to him
in recognition of feats of air skill
and heroism performed the day he
so gloriously died. Previously he
had received the Distinguished Ser
vice Cross, and also the bar to be
worn with the cross. The laconic
citation for the Congressional medal
reads as follows:
Second Lieutenant Frank Luke, jr.,
A. S. (deceased), 9th Aero Squadron,
list Pursuit Group.
For conspicuous gallantry and in
trepidity above and beyond the call Of
duty in action with the enemy near
Murvaux, France, September 20, 1918.
After having previously destroyed a
number of enemy aircraft within
seventeen days, he voluntarily started
on patrol after German observation
balloons.
Though pursued by eight German
planes which were protecting the en-
envy balloon line, he unhestitatingly
attacked and shot down in flames three
German balloons, being himself under
heavy fire from ground batteries and
the hostile planes.
Severely wounded, he descended to
within fifty metres of the ground, and
flying at this low altitude near the
town of Murvaux, opened fire upon
enemy troops, killing six and wound
ing as many more. Forced to make a
landing, and surrounded on all sides
by the enemy, who called upon him to
surrender he drew his automatic
pistol and defended himself gallantly
until he fell dead from a wound in the
chest
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01

Of a regiment. 1t
was written by
t N e regiment,
and is designed
primarily for the
enjoyment of the
regiment. B u t
beVOnd tho an.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01

loon. All day by directing the fire of
German enfilading guns it had held up
an American attack; all day another
American flying unit had tried to get
it. Luke, with Lieutenant Wehner, who
had trained with him at Issoudun and
Cazeaux, and who had become his part
ner on the field and in the air, started
out after the balloon and got it. On
the way they eliminated another
drachen, which did not, however, 20
down in flames, but they shot it so full
Of holes that all the gas escaped, and
before they lost sight of it it was on
the ground, fabby. Luke's connecting
rod was broken, so he was unable to
make the airdrome. Instead he landed
by an American balloon, got signed
confirmation from the American OBJ
server and spent the night with the
balloon officer. At group headquarters
as the night wore along, they decided
he was missing, but about o'clock
next morning he rode into the airdrome
waving the white piece Of paper with
the confirmation on it.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01
Never Got ENOUGH

He was flying enthusiast. He
never could get enough time in the
air. He flew every ship to the limit;
over and over he landed only because
he had run out of gas He was al
ways wanting to borrow ships, to the
annoyance of other squadron officers,
older in point of service, and who,
when Luke was first attached to the
9th, did not want their ships flown by
q pilot of whom they knew nothing.
He never flew straight course, was
always doing stunts, and the mechanics
who looked after his airplane were
hard put to it when he came back
from flight. When patrol was or
dered out and the ships were drawn
up nose to nose with taxing space be-
tween the two lines, Luke, when it
came to his turn to take off, would open
up his engine wide, and taxi down the
alleyway, his mechanics hanging on to
the wings, their feet flying.
1.-TWO other characteristics defined
his work. One was his impotence
with formation flying. His attitude
on this point came close to bringing
him into disfavor with his squadron
commander and his brother officers;
that is, it did before he had won a
place for himself and before the
squadron knew him truly. The older
element, drilled in formation flying and
its Importance, complained of this
youngster who would never stay with
his patrol. They knew from experience
that the time of formation and chain
formation engagements had come;
that the pilot who dropped out of for
nation jeopardized not only his own
chances but also those of the team
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01
His Records In june 1917 Arizona Shobo; September,
the Field of Honor; With Congressional Medal
Service Cross and Bar O His Breast

tics and who will remain to the end
of American history an example of
valor and self-sacrfice.
Luke was twenty years old when he
entered the sirvice. In the states
he was trained at the ground school in
Austin and at Rockwell Field. He re-
ceived further training overseas at Is
soudun and at the aerial gunnery
school at Cazeaux, and reported for
duty to the commanding officer Of the
9th Aero Squadron Chen stationed at
Saints in the Chateau Thierry sector)
late in July, 1918. Eight other young
pilots, fresh from school, were as
sembled with Luke in the Office of the
commanding officer, who, as was Gus
tomary, talked to them of their duties,
of discipline, of the necessity Of for
nation flying and of the certainty of
their becoming aces in due course.
"The first impression of. man like
Luke, whose career increased in bril-
liancy to its end, is very likely alb
sorbed in the whole; to remember it
distinctly is something like trying to
pick out candle burning feebly in
the shaft of searchlight; but whether
or not the impression of him is imme-
diate or accumulated, it remains that
of a youth keen and aquiline, blue
eyed and fair, with a strong jaw and
hair brushed back from broad, high
forehead.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01
ta.s officers fate"


"All night long," writes Colonel
Hartncy, "his body lay in the field
where it had fallen, for
tie officer Of the detachment Of Ger.
man troops that had sought to capture
him had kicked it and ordered that
70, one touch 1t. Next day some Of
the people Of Muryaux were allowed
10 Dury MIN, but they were denied the
privilege Of wrapping him in a sheet
or Of laying straw in the cart in which
they carried him - the cemetery.
Thjs story, however, does not aim to
Jeiterate the traits Of an enemy who
constantly proved himself ignoblc.
Rather IL IN brief record Of young
officer who at the time OF his death
wag the leading American ace; who
is officially credited with having shot
down eighteen Huns In seventeen days;
whose exploits had a direct effect upon
the Development Of American air tao
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01

was when the little Maryland town
was one of the "high spots" of
America, as Harrison Rhodes points
cut in "Harper's Monthly" He
says:
"The legends Of SO many sleepy old
towns in America hint at amazing
Colonial gayety that you sometimes
grow skeptical, but there is really rea-
son to suppose that Annapolis, in at
least the decade which preceded the
Revolution, was the most cultivated
and most pleasurelovng city of
America.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01
In the Dark

Several days later report came in
that the Germans were going to make
counter attack. and the 9th was or
dered up. 1t was late in the after
noon, and patrol with which Luke
had gone out earlier in the day had
come back without him. AS the other
ships were taking off he came in. Time
went by as he waited impaticntly for
gas, and dusk had fallen before he
could get away alone. Near Etain he
found German balloon and shot it
down in the dusk of late evening. He
landed at Verdun and came back to the
airdrome next morning. This exploit
gave the impetus to new balloon tao
tics. In the dim light of early morn
ing or evening the escort of planes
which during the day hung protect
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01
Eight Balloons

The citation that gave him the
Distinguished Service Cross reads:
For extraordinary herosm in &C.
ton near St. Mihiel, France, Septem-
Der IL, IS, ID, 10, 1918. Lieutenant
Luke, by skill, determination and
bravery, and in the face of heavy
enemy fire, successfully destroyed
eight enemy observation balloons in
four days"
The citation that gave him the bar
says:
Immediately after destroying two
enemy observation balloons, Lieuten-
ant Luke was attacked by a large
formation of German planes (type
Fokker). He turned to attack two
which were directly behind him and
shot them down. Sighting an enemy
biplane, although his gasolene was
nearly gone, he attacked and destroyed
this machine also"
In an introduction to "The Story
OF Frank Luke's Life" by Lieuten-
ant Colonel H. F. Hartney, himself
n American ace, which appears in
The United States Air Service"
the editor writes:
Eighteen Huns shot down in seven
teen days and then-death. Such is the
official record of Luke, regarded by
many officers as one of the most re-
q a
veloped in any army throughout the
entire war. Courage he had in extraor-
binary degree, for such is the uni
versal testimony of the men who knew
him best under fire. Intuition-an
intuitive instruction fighting above
the clouds must be conceded him on his
record. The death Of this gallant
young American has been so shrouded
in mystery; has given rise to so many
fantastic legends, many of which, in
credible as they are, have achieved wide
belief in the service, that it has seemed
worth while to give the facts of his
career and his death in action, so far
as it is possible to obtain them, from
the man best qualified by reason of
frsthand knowledge to tell this story.
And this man is Lieutenant Luke's
old squadron commander. now Lieu
tenant Colonel Harold f. Hartney. A.
$. A., chief of air service gunnery
So far as the facts are known regard
ing the last hours Of Lieutenant Luke,
the few hours Immediately preceding
his death by enemy ire, they are vivid
~ told here BY Lieutenant Colonel
Hartney. Luke's squadron commander
cannot say, and neither can any other
American, whether he died from
wounds received in his ship just prior
20 his forced landing at Murvaux, we'll
behind the cnemy's lines, or whether he
was killed by bullets from the rifles
Of German soldiers who sought to
capture him after he stepped from his
plane. The facts as they arc known
are told here authoritatively, and this
r.icle should destroy many of the
-oolish and untrue legends surrounding
tag officers fsten
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01

"HE 18th United States Infan-
try has written a book. And
Il it is real book, too--a
couple Of inches thick, beau
tifully bound and printed, with gold
edges even. This book is the story
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-06-01
When Annapolis Was High Spot

w E THINK of Annapolis
wv as the home of naval
' training and interesting
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-23
INVESTIGATION TO BE MADE OF BENEFITS
 CHARGE OF GRAF T
A War Department Representative Wanted S100,000 in Connection
 With Contract

Washington, January 22.-William S. Bennett, a former congressman, rep resenting F. S. Hines, a Chicago lum- Der dealer, charged before the Senate building and grounds committee today that Milton J. Trainor. connected with the real estate department of the war department, had attempted to obtain a commission of S100,000 from the Shanks Construction company of Chi cago, in connection with a contract for the construction of the Chicago Speedway hospital
 Mir. Bennett told the committee that he had been informed that early in the negotiations looking to the con- struction of the hopsita1 Trainor went to see George H. Shanks of the Shanks company and told him that unless he received commission of s100, ,00e no contract on the bids submitted by the Shanks company would be awarded Shanks, the witness asserted. refused to consider the matter and consulted MT. Hines, who at first declined to re- port it to Secretary Baker but later did so.
 dered an investigation, but he added that apparently nothing had come of it.
 Acting Chairman Hardwick of the Senate committee, which is investi- gating army and public health con struction, said the committee would make a complete investigation of fMr. Bennetts charge and that the former congressman would be given opportu- nity to question representatives of the war department who would be called
The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-23
GEN. WOOD QUOTES ROOSE EV FL T BEFORE KANSAS LEGISLATURE
Pleads for a System of Universal Training for National
 Defense
By Associated Press

Topeka, Kan, January 22.--Calmly re- ferring to the next war;" Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood made strong appeal be- fore a joint session Of the Kansas leg islature today for a system of universal training for national defense. He out lined what he termed tthe idea of the CTS" and frequently quoted sayings of the late Theodore Roosevelt.
 General Wood said his plan was to train youths, not more than six months. He pointed out that the Tenth division was trained to perfection in four months. He said that the plan of industrial train- ing along with military training, as now being tried out at Camp Funston, is en- ztitelY successful. The training system he said, was similar to that of the pres ent national guard system.
 -9 To keep the smallest number of men in uniform standing army, but to have the largest number thoroughly trained to be readysswhen the country calls is the plan" he said. "The pre- diction that there will be no more wars is as old time but war is like a pesti- lence: It comes 'unawares and the most democratic method for a nation like ours is to be prepared. You cannot massage away by fine rhetoric the passions of na- tions whose methods and morals are en- tirely different from our own.
 His reference to the fine language of nations already existing, between Eng land, France and America-not written in ink, but in the blood of common sac rifice." brought applause.