With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Kiffin Yates Rockwell, from Asheville, North Carolina, volunteered to fight for France. Initially serving with the French Foreign Legion as a soldier in the trenches, he soon became a founding member of the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron made up mostly of American volunteer pilots who served under the French flag before the United States entered the war. On May 19, 1916, Rockwell became the first American pilot of the war to shoot down a German plane. He was killed during aerial combat on September 23, 1916, at age 24. This book covers Rockwell's early life and military service with the Lafayette Escadrille, the first ever American air combat unit and the precursor to the United States Air Force.

With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Kiffin Yates Rockwell, from Asheville, North Carolina, volunteered to fight for France. Initially serving with the French Foreign Legion as a soldier in the trenches, he soon became a founding member of the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron made up mostly of American volunteer pilots who served under the French flag before the United States entered the war. On May 19, 1916, Rockwell became the first American pilot of the war to shoot down a German plane. He was killed during aerial combat on September 23, 1916, at age 24. This book covers Rockwell's early life and military service with the Lafayette Escadrille, the first ever American air combat unit and the precursor to the United States Air Force.

"I want to live now more than I ever did in my life but not from the selfish standpoint. This war has taught me many things and now I want to live to do whatever good is possible. But if I am killed anytime in the war I will not be afraid to die, and you may know that I will die like a man should, feeling that it is the greatest death that a man can die." - Kiffin RockwellFor more than two and a half years the example of Kiffin Rockwell and other idealistic American boys fighting on behalf of France shone like a beacon across the Atlantic Ocean, summoning America to take part in the ongoing struggle for civilization. Kiffin and a handful of other like-minded young men were intent on paying their portion of America's debt to Lafayette who, acting on similar impulses and ideals, had crossed the ocean more than a century before to assist America in its fight for independence.First in the trenches as volunteers with the French Foreign Legion, and then in the skies among the world's first fighter pilots, the unbelievable courage and voluntary sacrifice of these boys drew the attention of the world and galvanized American public opinion on the side of France. Played out against the almost unfathomable carnage of the war, the sinking of the Lusitania and the presidential election of 1916, this book sheds new light on the unforgettable true account of Kiffin and the other "boys who remembered Lafayette." Eventually, more than a million U.S. soldiers would cross the Atlantic to help save France. All of them followed in the footsteps of Kiffin Rockwell.Mark M. Trapp is a lawyer in Chicago. This is his first book.www.undyinggreatness.com

This book was originally printed in 1925 by Paul Ayres Rockwell, the brother of Kiffin Yates Rockwell. These brothers are my, Shane Kiffin Ayers, 3rd Cousins 3-times removed, and I am named after Kiffin. Paul compiled this book to honor his brother and many others as they fought for justice in the world. These letters give a peek into the window of real soldiers doing unimaginable work. Enjoy and Shalom on your Journey to becoming a Hero.

Five days after the outbreak of World War I in the summer of 1914, American Kiffin Rockwell was on a ship headed for France. The United States would not join the war for nearly three years, but Rockwell believed it was time to fight. He joined the elite French Foreign Legion and was soon fighting in the trenches of the Western Front. A combat wound in 1915 rendered him unfit to fight on the ground, so Rockwell volunteered to fight in the air, becoming a charter member of the soon-to-be legendary Lafayette Escadrille, a fighter squadron of volunteer American pilots. In May 1916, Rockwell became the first pilot to score a victory for the new unit when he shot down a German plane. He was wounded in the skies over Verdun but refused hospitalization, insisting on remaining in the air. He flew more missions with the Lafayette Escadrille than any other pilot until his death in aerial combat in September 1916. First to Fight is a high-octane drama of a remarkable soldier and pilot who fought in the trenches and in the skies during World War I. It is the story of one of the first American fighter pilots at the dawn of aerial combat, the era of the Red Baron, with dogfighting biplanes high above the trench lines. But more than a World War I story, more than an aviation story, this is the story of an idealist who volunteered—long before his country drafted its first soldier—to fight, and ultimately die, in defense of civilization.

During the summer of 1914 the drumbeat of war excited public attention the world round. Among those following events that looked to drag all of Europe into the abyss of war was 21-year-old Kiffin Rockwell. As the diplomatic crisis in Europe unfolded, Kiffin sensed that the opportunity to pursue a life of action had at last arrived. By summer's end he would step out and boldly grasp the chance to pursue a life of purpose. That decision would not only transform his life but would enshrine his place in history and make him America's first renowned hero of the Great War. Selections from the foreword: "I have, on a number of occasions, pointed out that the 38 pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille created a culture that influenced all combat pilots who came after them, even today. The Air Force values of courage, discipline, and commitment go right back to these young Americans who held and displayed those virtues. Among those men Kiffin Rockwell best exemplified Air Force values...in fact he shaped them. His French captain, Georges Thénault, described Rockwell as "a great soldier with a high sense of duty" and praised the young pilot for serving "simply and valiantly, without boasting and without ambition." "Rockwell was quiet and kept to himself but in the air he was a fearless, skilled, and ferocious combat pilot. Fortunately, the taciturn Rockwell expressed himself eloquently and openly in letters to family and friends. Those letters have been a source of inspiration since 1925, when his brother, Paul, first published them. Those letters serve as the foundation for Marc McClure's book Kiffin Rockwell: First American Hero of the Great War as well as the author's new documentary film Valor. These two works offer an intimate understanding of the young American soldier and pilot, who continues to be an example of excellence and a source of inspiration." T. Michael Moseley General (Ret.) United States Air Force 18th Chief of Staff

Describes the formation of the L.F.C. following the successes of the Escadrille Lafayette. Includes biographical sketches of L.F.C. members who served in various French escadrilles until after the U.S. entered the war in 1917.