Introduction

2nd Lt. Frank Luke Jr. of Phoenix, Arizona. The most famous of the squadron's pilots, Luke was America's leading ace when he died on Sept. 29, 1918. Awarded the Medal of Honor for his final sortie and glamorized as a cowboy "balloon buster," Luke's improbable story was what originally drew me to this research.
1st Lt. Joe Wehner of Everett, Mass. Remembered to history only as Luke's sidekick in their two-man September offensive against German aircraft and observation balloons, Wehner was a quiet but adventurous soul whose German heritage made him the subject of repeated espionage investigations and arrests. His death on Sept. 18 while protecting Luke has been generally credited with starting Luke on a downward emotional spiral.
Maj. Harold Hartney of Canada was the 27th's first commanding officer before being promoted to group commander in August of 1918. A quirky, gifted and intuitive officer, Hartney trained the 27th's original pilots and promoted the idea that standard infantry discipline produced poor combat pilots. He would later clash with his replacement as squadron commander ...

Capt. Alfred A. "Ack" Grant of Denton, Texas. One of the original members of the 27th Squadron, Grant was picked from among his peers to replace Hartney. A former ROTC cadet from Kansas State Agricultural College, Grant put the 27th on a diet of strict military discipline - a philosophy that put him in constant conflict with Lt. Luke, his maverick subordinate, and Maj. Hartney, who repeatedly undercut his captain's authority. Updated Dec. 26, 1997.

1st Lt. Jerry Vasconcells Another of the squadron's original members, Vasconcells was a small-town Kansas boy working his way through night school in Denver when the war came along. An early friend of Grant's, tensions between the two men grew with Vasconcell's resentment after Grant's promotion. By late September, the popular Vasconcells would be running the squadron's advance airfield at Verdun - and fraying the loyalties of the squadron's pilots.

There are numerous others in the story, but these are the central figures in what I can best describe as an American tragedy. Each acted according to his nature - and the results were probably unavoidable.