Robert D . Knapp Robert Duane Knapp , Jr . ( December 26 , 1897 – April 25 , 1994 ) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force and an aviation pioneer . He held United States pilot license # 185 and led the first Allied aerial attack on Rome in World War II . Knapp received a Silver Star for leading an unescorted bombing raid on a fighter - defended Axis convoy in 1944 . Early life . Robert D . Knapp was born in Moreland , Georgia , but grew up in Auburn , Alabama . When Knapp was 10 years old , the Wright Brothers stayed in his home for a short time while consulting with professors at nearby Alabama Polytechnic Institute , an event which shaped Knapp ' s future career . Military career . After completing his studies at Auburn High School in 1917 , Knapp applied for Army officer training , but was turned down due to his age . Instead , he was accepted as an aviation cadet , receiving his wings and being commissioned as a second lieutenant on March 9 , 1918 . Knapp went to the United Kingdom with his unit , the 92d Aero Squadron ( Bombardment ) , in August 1918 , but failed to see action in World War I due to a late shipment of propellers for his unit ' s Handley Page O / 400 bombers . After returning from Europe , Knapp was assigned to the 96th Aero Squadron , charged with aerially patrolling the US - Mexican border after a Mexican cross - border raid on El Paso , Texas in 1919 . In 1921 , he was given command of Flight " A " of 12th Aero Squadron at Camp Stephen B . Little in Nogales , Arizona , where for the next two years he patrolled the Arizona border . In 1923 , he was transferred to Maxwell Field in Montgomery , Alabama for aerial mapping missions ; while there , he flew the first air mail route between Montgomery and New Orleans , Louisiana . After four years at Maxwell , Knapp was assigned to Kelly Field in San Antonio , Texas , where he was a flying instructor at the flight school . Having been promoted to commandant of the Air Corps Primary Flying School at nearby Brooks Field in 1929 , he was appointed commanding officer of the 44th Observation Squadron in the Panama Canal Zone in 1931 . He later commanded the 7th Observation Squadron , also in Panama , before returning to Kelly Field in 1934 as Director of Flying Training . Knapp in 1937 led a 98 - aircraft squadron of Advanced Flying School students on a cross - country tour to recruit ROTC cadets into aviation . In 1938 , he attended Air Corps Tactical School and was an instructor for the 154th Observation Squadron of the Arkansas National Guard . He became the executive officer of the 1st Bomber Command at Langley Field near Hampton , Virginia in 1940 . World War II . After the United States entered World War II in 1941 , Knapp organized six bombardier groups , trained three of them , and took command of one , the 321st Bombardment Group . The 321st was assigned to North Africa , flying raids against Axis forces in B - 25 Mitchell bombers . In July 1943 , The 321st launched the first full - scale US bombing raid on an Axis capital with Knapp flying the lead plane in an attack on Rome . In 1944 , he led an attack — without fighter escort — on an Axis shipping convoy that had fighter protection . For that attack , he was awarded a Silver Star . Later in 1944 , he was promoted to brigadier general and given command of the 57th Bomb Wing , a position he held for the remainder of the war . Later life . After the war , Knapp became chief of the US Air Force Mission to Argentina . He retired from the Air Force in 1953 , and returned home to Auburn , Alabama . Robert D . Knapp died in Alabama on April 25 , 1994 .