95th Aero Squadron The 95th Aero Squadron was a Air Service , United States Army unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I . It was the first American pursuit ( fighter ) squadron to fly in combat on the Western Front , beginning on 8 March 1918 . The squadron was assigned as a Day Pursuit ( Fighter ) Squadron as part of the 1st Pursuit Group , First United States Army . Its mission was to engage and clear enemy aircraft from the skies and provide escort to reconnaissance and bombardment squadrons over enemy territory . It also attacked enemy observation balloons , and perform close air support and tactical bombing attacks of enemy forces along the front lines . In combat , squadron members shot down 35 enemy aircraft and 12 observation balloons and had 6 Air Aces . Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt , the youngest son of President Theodore Roosevelt was assigned to the 95th . He lost his life in combat on 14 July 1918 . After the 1918 Armistice with Germany , the squadron returned to the United States in March 1919 and was demobilized . The current United States Air Force unit which holds its lineage and history is the 95th Reconnaissance Squadron , assigned to the 55th Operations Group , RAF Mildenhall , England . History . Origins . The 95th Aero Squadron was formed at Kelly Field , Texas on 20 August 1917 . Upon its formation , the men of the squadron were instructed in close - order drill and in military traditions . On 30 September , the squadron left Kelly Field for the Aviation Concentration Center , Hazelhurst Field # 2 , on Long Island , New York . From there it boarded the SS Adriatic on 27 October bound for overseas duty in Europe . After an uneventful ocean crossing , the squadron arrived in Liverpool , England on 10 November . It then took at train to Southampton , on the southern English coast where it boarded the SS Huntscraft for a crossing over the English Channel to Le Havre , France . It arrived at the British Rest Camp # 2 on 13 November . Training in France . On 16 November , the squadron arrived at the 3d Air Instructional Center , Issoudun Aerodrome . Upon arrival , there was nothing but a field of mud . The men of the 95th were tasked in erecting tents , hangars and helping to build the base for future squadrons to come . According to the squadron historian , the winter spent at Issoudun will " never be forgotten . It was work from morning to night under the most adverse conditions . " The pilots assigned to Issoudun began their flight training as aviation cadets . Combat on the Western Front . On 16 February , the 95th Squadron was transferred to Villeneuve les Vertus Aerodrome where it arrived at the " Zone of the Advance " ( Western Front ) on 18 February . This was another new camp with a tremendous amount of mud . The squadron did not have any planes to fly or maintain so it was immediately put to work on construction tasks . Finally , on 5 March the first airplane arrived , a Nieuport 28 and the 95th was designated as a Pursuit ( Fighter ) squadron . Over the next few days , additional Nieuport 28s were received from Orly Field , near Paris . However the aircraft were received without any machine guns . However , without machine - guns , the 95th flew familiarization flights with French Air Service squadrons . However , on 8 March the 95th was reminded there was a war , when its commanding officer , Captain Miller , was shot down on his first flight behind the German lines . However , despite not having machine guns on their planes , proceeded to fly reconnaissance patrols daily , however after Captain Miller was shot down , the pilots of the 95th were restricted to flying over friendly territory . Toul Sector . On 10 March , now armed and fully equipped , the squadron was moved to the Toul Sector . On 11 March , the first combat patrol was flown without French escorts , but no enemy contact was made . 15 May was the first real busy day for the 95th , as it flew 23 sorties to escort pilots of the 1st Aero Squadron on an photographic and observation mission . An additional 22 sorties were flown with the 1st on the 16th . On the 17th , the squadron lost its second pilot when Lt . BLodgett , returning from an escort patrol with the 1st had an engine failure and crashed into the ground a few miles from the field . Also on 17 March , the squadron claimed its first official air victory when Captain Peterson , a former Lafayette Escadrille flyer , attacked two German biplanes in the region of St . Mihiel and attacked them both . He saw the first plane go down , but was attacked by the second enemy plane . Through the month nearly all sorties were made giving protection to I Corps Observation Group reconnaissance planes , each day flying about 25 – 35 sorties . On 31 March , the 95th moved to Epiez Aerodrome . Again , the squadron found itself at a new field that was primarily mud , and for the next month the men of the squadron were put to work doing construction and erecting tents and hangars . On 8 April , seven of the squadron ' s planes were transferred to the 94th Aero Squadron , which was being transferred to Gengault Aerodrome , near Toul . By the end of the month , the 95th was also being prepared to move to Toul , and on 4 May it also moved . On 5 May , the 95th was organized , along with the 94th Aero Squadron into the 1st Pursuit Group . At Toul , active combat patrols and alerts immediately commenced , over the sector from Saint - Mihiel to Pont a Mousson . The enemy in the sector , however , did normally not engage the squadron ' s aircraft , keeping a respectful distance . On 21 May , two air combats were reported , when Lieutenants Taylor and Hall fired on an enemy aircraft , killing the observer and forcing the aircraft back to its lines . Earlier in the day , Lt Wooley was attacked by an enemy aircraft in the region of Fimery , however he escaped without injury . From this point , air combats became a daily occurrence . On 30 May , the squadron lost its 3d pilot when Lieutenant Casgrais was shot down over enemy territory , however he was later reported to be a prisoner . In June , the squadron received its first replacement pilots . One of them , 1st Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt joined the squadron on the 17th . He was the youngest son of former President Theodore Roosevelt . Also with Roosevelt , the squadron welcomed Lieutenants Thomson , Montage and Vann . Marne Sector . On 29 June the 1st Pursuit Group moved to the Chateau Thierry sector and to Touquin Aerodrome . There , the 95th began receiving SPAD XIII s , replacing the unpopular Nieuport 28s . On 5 July , air combat began again after a few weeks of respite , with large numbers of sorties flown , and losses of men and aircraft resulted . The 95th was flying against the finest pilots of the enemy , and often was outnumbered in the air . On 9 July , the squadron moved again , this time to Saints Aerodrome , which was nearer the front lines . However , unlike the Toul Sector , this sector was not as active with German aircraft and only a few enemy aircraft were encountered . Lieutenant Roosevelt shot down his first plane on 10 July , and he reported that after he crossed the line east of Chateau - Thierry , he saw a patrol of three enemy aircraft flying to the northwest . After flying west of Beuvardes , he shot at the enemy from above . After about 100 shots , one of the planes went into a spin , and began to fall though the clouds . The plane was later confirmed to have crashed . However , on 14 July , Lt . Roosevelt was missing after another air combat . Several days later , a German plane flew over the lines and dropped a note saying that he was killed in action and was buried with full military honors at Chambray . On the 15th , the full Allied offensive in the Chateau Thierry Sector began , with operations ongoing from dawn until nightfall . The 27th encountered German formations as large as 30 aircraft . On the 16th the Germans crossed the Marne River at Dormans , however the American infantry outflanked the Germans and were able to hold the line . During the offensive , the 95th continued escort flights of photo - reconnaissance planes so headquarters would be able to know the locations and strength of the enemy forces and each day air combat with enemy planes were encountered . St . Mihiel Offensive . By 1 September , the front had moved considerably and preparations were being made to move up closer to the line . A move to Rembercourt Aerodrome was made on 3 September and operations began the next day . In order to keep the squadron operations secret from the Germans , it was necessary to keep aircraft in the air in the vicinity of Rembercourt to guard against their photographic planes . The American St . Mihiel Offensive began on 12 September after an intense artillery barrage , and the 95th was ordered to conduct close air support for the infantry and machine - gun enemy infantry on the ground ; protect observation aircraft and take the offensive to enemy pursuit planes spotted in the sector . In addition , all enemy observation balloons were to be attacked . However , on account of weather conditions , flights were limited to about 200 meters in altitude , with patrols primarily supporting the infantry advance and to attack enemy convoys and troop concentrations in its rear areas . However , after a few days , the weather improved and the squadron was able to operate from as high as 5 , 500 meters . Meuse - Argonne Offensive . On the 17th the squadron ' s sector was changed and it began patrolling between the Argonne and Verdun , and its mission was changed from air interdiction to ground support of advancing Army forces , normally flying below 800 meters . The first task was to shoot down German observation balloons . On the night of 25 September , the heaviest American artillery barrage of the war was laid down on the enemy front with the beginning of the Meuse - Argonne Offensive . Operations orders received stated that all available aircraft would leave the ground before dawn to attack and destroy all enemy observation balloons . After that aircraft would attack enemy troops on the ground and engage any enemy aircraft to prevent them attacking friendly infantry forces . Operations were mainly at altitudes of less than 600 meters primarily to attack any enemy aircraft flying to attack American ground forces . During the closing days of the war , reports indicated that enemy activity had dwindled to a great extent . Only a few biplanes and an occasional enemy formation of aircraft were seen . The last flight that involved combat with enemy aircraft took place on 8 November when Lieutenant Rhenstrom took off on a voluntary patrol to strafe enemy infantry on a road from Remeinville to Montmedy . As he came out of the clouds he saw three enemy Fokker s slightly below him and going in the same direction . He dove on the rear plane of the formation and saw the plane start to spin and fall immediately after his first burst . he then turned to the second enemy aircraft and saw the tracer bullets enter its fuselage , seeing it crash . The third enemy plane turned and avoided combat . He then continued , looking for the infantry , but they were no where to be found . On his way back to Rembercourt Rhenstrom saw an enemy balloon in the region of Chauvency - le - Château which he attacked , however without results . On 9 November at the advanced field at Verdun , an enemy Fokker landed . The pilot said he was lost and that the war would soon be over , and didn ' t care where he landed . The pilot was immediately made a prisoner . His plane was flown to Rembercourt the next day as a war trophy . The final wartime flight of the 95th Aero Squadron was at 14 : 00 on 10 November as a single plane took off . No enemy contact was made and it landed uneventfully . Unfavorable weather caused the squadron to be grounded on the morning of 11 November and all combat operations ceased at 11 : 00 . Demobilization . Proficiency flights were conducted after the Armistice with Germany , however , no flights were permitted to be flown over German - controlled territory . The squadron remained at Rembercourt for about a month . On 11 December 1918 orders were received from First Army for the squadron to report to the 1st Air Depot , Colombey - les - Belles Airdrome to turn in all of its supplies and equipment and was relieved from duty with the AEF . The squadron ' s planes were delivered to the Air Service Production Center No . 2 . at Romorantin Aerodrome , and there , practically all of the pilots and observers were detached from the Squadron . During the organization ' s stay at Colombey , the men attended to the usual camp duties . Personnel were subsequently assigned to the Commanding General , Services of Supply and ordered to report to one of several staging camps in France . There , personnel awaited scheduling to report to one of the Base Ports in France for transport to the United States and subsequent demobilization . On 6 February 1919 , the 95th was moved to Base Station # 5 near the port of Brest prior to its return to the United States . Upon arrival the men were caught up on any back pay owed to them , de - loused , a formal military records review was performed and a passenger list was created prior to the men boarding a ship . On 19 February 1919 , the 95th Aero Squadron boarded a troop ship and sailed for New York Harbor , arriving on the 28th . It proceeded to Camp Mills , Long Island , on 1 March where the personnel of the squadron were demobilized and returned to civilian life .