"I hope to God that I may turn out to be a good pilot and get my share of the ----- there isn't a name hard enough you can call them." (Letter to his wife, July 8, 1918, in Memoir, page 71)

Doyen Parsons Wardwell

Doyen Parsons Wardwell [February 1919] War: World War I, 1914-1920 Branch: Army Air Forces/Corps Unit: 103rd Areo Pursuit Squadron (formally the Lafayette Escadrille), 185th Pursuit Escadrille Service Location: United States; France Rank: Major Place of Birth: Kingwood, WV

A junior at Ohio State University when the U.S. entered the war, Doyen Wardwell quit school and within two months was accepted into the new Aviation Corps. He was in the first class of pilots trained at Dayton's Orville Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base). A member of the famed Lafayette Escadrille, Wardwell flew reconnaissance, pursuit, bombing, and escort missions and made some of the first night flights over the war zone. He documented his exploits over England and France in a diary and in letters home to his new bride. For Wardwell, the thrill of flying more than offset any fear of being shot down.