Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-02-21
ACES UP! g. 505!7 K70z
The Fact Story Of American Aviators the World War
Part HThe Air Force of the A. E. F.

and drop our packages In such manner
that they would fall on the east and
west line in the deep ravine at the
bottom OF which our men were suppos-
ed to be.
consequently. at slightly before noon
Lieut.. Pickrell. pilot. with Lieut.. George,
observer. left the field to drop supplies
OF ammunition, food and medical sup.
plies. together with what chocolate We
could find. From noon on a contin-
uous series of flights was kept in prog
ress until dark. dropping consider
able quantity Of these supplies, and in
addition two baskets Of carrier pigeons.
To insure fairly soft landing for the
imprisoned birds, number of para
chutes taken from parachute flares
were fastened to each baSket-about
eight to each-and were seen to open
up and act with surprising efficiency.
The effort of every mission to sue
cessfuly bring aid to the unfortunate
detachment resulted in throwing away
that caution which under ordinary cir
cumstances is used to insure the re-
turn Of information. A. a result every
plane few well under 1000 feet by
altimeter. which brought them down
scarcely above the hilltops over their
objective. After 1t became evident to
the enemy that determined bid was
being made for that certain point
clearly evidenced by the arrival Of plane
after plane over that spot--they quite
naturally prepared for others to follow
and to break up the work II possible.
Their success was only partial.
Lieut.. Phillips, pilot, and Lieut..
Brown. observer were shot down
northeast Of Binarville by machine gun
and rifle fire from the location of the
objective. Fortunately they were UNI
injured and landed safely, escaping
from their machine and making their
way south.
Lieut.. Tray Bird. pilot, with Lieut..
Bolt, observer were brought down in
like manner and crashed near Vienne
lie Chateau, both men escaping un-
wounded and unhurt by their crash.
Lieut.. Goettler and Lieut. Bleckley.
observer, were brought down and
crashed on the French front to the
west Of our sector No definite infor-
nation has ever come to hand as to
exactly what happened. The first re-
port coming from the French was that
the pilot had been shot and the OBJ
server had his skull fractured. Later
We learned that both had been buried.
Lieut.. Graham with Lieut.. McCurdy,
observer, returned from their mission
with Lieut.. McCurdy seriously wounded
through the neck. having received his
wound over the objective point.
Through the prompt and efficient work
OF DR.. L. G. Feiner, 50th Squadron and
group surgeon. the dangerous wound
~ and after comparatively short
time Lieut.. McCurdy was able to re-
join his command and carry on with
his duties"
At noon Of the following day. Octo-
Der Z. pilot Of the 50th Squadron
few down among the trees and def
n1tely located the Lost Battalion
With this information in the hands
OF the division commander. the rescue
OF the survivors followed In a few hours
and so the final chapter OF this epic
OF the war was written by the air
force.
have said earlier in this story that
Lieut.. Frank Luke. jr., was the only
Army fighting flyer who won the Con-
gressional Medal OF Honor. He was.
Now am going TO split q fine hair OF
distinction by saying that two men OF
whom am about to tell you were
not fighting pilots. One was the
pilot OF an observation plane and the
other was lieutenant OF artillery de.
tailed on aerial observation duty. They
won their medals Of honor not by fight-
Ing. but by going into the face Of Ger
tain death TO help fellow soldiers In
another branch Of the service.
Harold Ernest Goettler. 20 years old.
nailed from the North Side Of Chicago.
He was famous foot ball tackle at the
University OF Chicago. He had been In
the real estate business when he an.
swered the call in 1917 by entering the
ar service for training. little older
than most OF the air pilots, he was
cautious and deliberate In his training,
SO that he went to France In the Sum-
mer OF 1918 perhaps a better flyer than
most or the younger men who had
gone over to. swell the ranks of the air
service. He was assigned TO the 5Oth
Observation Squadron.
The files tell US that Lieut.. Goettlcr
| was OF what we know as the "old Amer
lean" Types feet inches tall, with
| bright blue eyes. brown hair and a
weight OF 1913 pounds--physically very
IN courage and devotion stands proven
| by the record
Erwin r. BleckIey was a tall and
| rather iank KanSan from Wichita. He
ran up full 8 feet from the ground
| ana ne tipped the scales ut the spare
hgure OF i57 pounds. Another OF the
pioneer type with blue eyes and dark
| hair. banker In the making. he was
member OF the Kansas National
Guard and had served as a lieutenan,
for months on this side before he was
sent TO France as an ofIicer OF the l3oth
Field Artillery. At this time he was "a
years old
Perhaps because OF his prediction
Tor mathematical exactness which had
LED him into the banking business had
us use In the delicate Job OF spotting
| the precise location OF German bat.
| tertes and computing the ranges for
American guns. they made an airpIane
observer out OF him. He was assigned
| TO ny as Goettlers observer,
Whittlesey's battalion was cut of In
the Argonne Forest on October 2. 1919
For days the Army struggled to break
through the stubborn ring Of machine
guns which hemmed In the lost bat
talon. Men fought and eaxped and
died In that tangie Of rocks and trees
and guilies which Is the Forest OF Ar
gopne. and inch by inch the distance
was cut down. Whittiesey's men were
known 10 have no supplies but what
|
IT was certain that they were not
equipped TO hold out for very long
0oettier and Bleckiey volunteered u
carry supplies through 10 the beleag.
uered companies and got through with
load OF supplies, which they dropped
from their plane. They passed through
storm OF German fire which was so
Intense that they were not quite sure
that all their packages had fallen IN
side WhittIesey's CONSTRUCTED line. Start
Ing out with their second load. they
New just above the tree tops. determined
TO see their objective through the reck
Of battle and make the delivery OF their
badly needed relief more certain. In
their minds the important thing was
tn get supplies 10 Whittiesey--~what
happened 10 themselves was OF no I'm.
portance 10 them.
They failed. but failed magnificently