It’s Veterans Day, formerly called Armistice Day, which marked the end of World War One on “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918. For Balladeer’s Blog’s final World War One post this year here’s a look at the first seven American pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille.
Lafayette Escadrille
QUICK FACTS: The French Foreign Legion connection to this storied squadron of American pilots came about because the United States did not enter the First World War until April of 1917 even though it began in 1914. Many American flyers volunteered to fight for the Allied Powers against the Central Powers.
*** Originally called the Escadrille Americaine, the unit had to drop that name when Germany, the Ottoman Turks and other Central Powers nations complained to the U.S. stating such a name indicated a violation of its official neutrality at that point in the war. The new name was the Lafayette Escadrille in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French aristocrat who served in America’s Revolutionary War.
*** This unit was active from March 1916 to February 1918, at which time it was disestablished and its pilots were absorbed into the official United States armed forces because America had by then been one of the belligerent nations for nearly a year.
*** Officers of the escadrille were French, which was standard for the French Foreign Legion.
*** 224 Americans served in the Lafayette Escadrille, with 51 slain in battle and 11 more dying from other causes. 15 pilots became Prisoners of War and 11 became Aces.
*** Two lion cubs became the escadrille’s mascots. The pilots named them Whiskey and Soda.
THE FIRST SEVEN PILOTS OF THE LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE:
NORMAN PRINCE – This founding member of the unit was a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School. He was an early enthusiast of the new field of flying and earned his pilot’s license in 1911.
Norman shot down five enemy aircraft and had four more probables before being killed in a crash-landing in mid-October of 1916. The French awarded him the Legion of Honor, a military award established by Napoleon himself. Prince also earned the Croix de Guerre and the Medaille Militaire. Continue reading
Balladeer’s Blog examines American Flying Ace Eddie Rickenbacker as we lead up to another November 11th, now called Veterans Day but formerly known as Armistice Day since November 11th, 1918 marked the end of World War One. 
Yes, it’s once again Guy Fawkes Day, the day Balladeer’s Blog celebrates figures who became symbols of the exact opposite things they represented in their actual lives! 
“Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any enemy that falls in my hands! My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood.” 
Read more of this animal’s own words and you will see what a callous, unfeeling political fanatic this hate-filled scumbag was. He never wanted to overthrow dictatorships to help “the people”, he just wanted to overthrow them to install dictatorships more to his liking.
THE IACCACI BROTHERS – In the 1960s young American men would head to Canada to avoid serving in the Vietnam War. During World War One a number of young American men headed to Canada to serve in British Military Units because the U.S. had not yet entered the conflict. 
Even if you hate Donald Trump I have no idea how you can possibly think he is worse than the corrupt white-collar criminals arrayed against him. 
Taibbi also stated “My discomfort in the last few years, first with Russiagate and now with Ukrainegate and impeachment, stems from the belief that the people pushing hardest for Trump’s early removal are more dangerous than Trump. Many Americans don’t see this because they’re not used to waking up in a country where you’re not sure who the president will be by nightfall. They don’t understand that this predicament is worse than having a bad president.”
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