Balloon Ace

The Life of an Early Airpower Visionary

Charles D. Dusch Jr (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

304 Seiten

2025
The University Press of Kentucky (Verlag)
978-1-9859-0160-5 (ISBN)

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In 1927, when aviator Charles A. Lindbergh flew his famous monoplane in a triumphant tour of the United States, the Spirit of St. Louis touched down in Wheeling, West Virginia, for his visit to the Linsly School. There, Lindbergh laid a wreath at the foot of the Aviator—a statue erected by Sallie Maxwell Bennett bearing the likeness of her son, Louis Bennett Jr., West Virginia's only First World War flying ace. Though largely unknown today, Bennett was an airpower innovator whose tragically short combat career would have an enduring impact on American flight and on war memorials both at home and abroad. In Balloon Ace: The Life of an Early Airpower Visionary, historian Charles Dusch reconstructs Louis Bennett Jr.'s lost legacy. Advocating for a national aviation reserve years before the writings of "Billy" Mitchell, Bennett created a state aerial militia in 1917, complete with supporting airbases and an airplane factory. When the US Army refused to accept his unit, a frustrated Bennett joined the Royal Air Force to fight on the Western Front, destroying nine German balloons and three aircraft in a matter of days before he himself was shot down. In the second act of Bennett's story, Dusch traces Sallie Bennett's quest to clandestinely recover her son's body. Posing as a journalist, Sallie traveled to Europe searching the cemeteries on the Western Front and later commissioned twelve memorials to Bennett, including a chapel in France, the RAF window in Westminster Abbey, and the Aviator at Linsly. Moved by the vast destruction of the continent, she would eventually cross political boundaries to bring much-needed publicity to other mothers' demands for the US government to repatriate their own fallen loved ones.

Erscheinungsdatum	20.01.2025
Zusatzinfo	48 b&w illus
Verlagsort	Lexington
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik
	Natur / Technik ► Fahrzeuge / Flugzeuge / Schiffe ► Militärfahrzeuge / -flugzeuge / -schiffe
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918)
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung
ISBN-10	1-9859-0160-9 / 1985901609
ISBN-13	978-1-9859-0160-5 / 9781985901605
Zustand	Neuware