1. Frank Luke was born May 19,1897, in Phoenix, Arizona, after his father emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1874 and settled there.
15 Facts About Frank Luke
1. 2.
Frank Luke was his family's fifth child, and had eight brothers and sisters.
3.
Frank Luke grew up excelling in sports, working in copper mines, and participating in bare-knuckle boxing matches.
4.
That evening Frank Luke flew to the front to attack three balloons in the vicinity of Dun-sur-Meuse, six miles behind the German lines.
5.
Frank Luke first dropped a message to a nearby United States balloon company, alerting them to observe his imminent attacks.
6.
Frank Luke shot down the enemy balloons, but was then severely wounded by a single machine gun bullet fired from a hilltop above him, a mile east of the last balloon site he had attacked.
7.
Frank Luke's final resting place is the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial, located east of the village of Romagne-sous-Montfaucon.
8.
The museum's small exhibit honoring Frank Luke contains his flying goggles, the gunsight from his last SPAD, documents written by Frank Luke, and other personal items.
9.
Frank Luke was the most daring aviator and greatest fighter pilot of the entire war.
10.
Frank Luke's life is one of the brightest glories of our Air Service.
11.
Frank Luke went on a rampage and shot down fourteen enemy aircraft, including ten balloons, in eight days.
12.
Frank Luke is often cited as the second-ranking United States ace of World War I, but that statement ignores certain American pilots who flew with other air services.
13.
Frank Luke was second only to Rickenbacker among pilots serving only with the AEF.
14.
Immediately after destroying two enemy observation balloons, Lieutenant Frank Luke was attacked by a large formation of German planes, Fokker type.
15.
Frank Luke turned to attack two, which were directly behind him and shot them down.