1. Kiffin Yates Rockwell was an early aviator and the first American pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft in World War I On May 18,1916, Rockwell attacked and shot down a German plane over the Alsace battlefield.
16 Facts About Kiffin Rockwell
1. 2.
From 1906 to 1908, Kiffin Rockwell attended the Asheville High School, and in the fall of 1908 enrolled in Virginia Military Institute.
3.
In 1912, Kiffin Rockwell took a break from his studies deciding to see the world.
4.
Kiffin Rockwell traveled first to the Pacific Coast and Western Canada, and then stayed in San Francisco, where he opened an advertising agency, which at one time, according to his brother Paul, employed twenty people.
5.
In 1913, Kiffin Rockwell returned to Asheville before joining Paul Kiffin Rockwell in Atlanta, finding employment with Massengale Advertising Agency.
6.
At the outbreak of World War I, on August 3,1914, Kiffin Rockwell offered his services to France by letter, which he wrote with his brother Paul, to the French Consul-General in New Orleans.
7.
Kiffin Rockwell was shot through the leg on May 9,1915 when his unit, the 1st Foreign Legion Regiment charged La Targette, north of Arras.
8.
Kiffin Rockwell spent six weeks in the hospital and when he left for Paris on convalescent leave, his leg was completely healed.
9.
Paul Kiffin Rockwell became a publicist for the fledgling Lafayette Escadrille.
10.
On May 18,1916, Kiffin Rockwell, flying a Nieuport, attacked and shot down a German aircraft, a two-man observation plane, over the Alsace battlefield despite having troubles with the motor.
11.
On May 26,1916, during the defense of Verdun, Kiffin Rockwell was wounded in the face during combat with an enemy airplane, however refused to stay in the hospital.
12.
On September 23,1916, during a fight with a German two-man reconnaissance plane, Kiffin Rockwell was shot through the chest by an explosive bullet and killed instantly.
13.
Kiffin Rockwell's plane crashed between the first and second line of French trenches.
14.
Kiffin Rockwell became the second American airman to die in combat in France, and was buried with military honors.
15.
Kiffin Rockwell is buried in Luxeuil-les-Bains Communal Cemetery in Luxeuil-les-Bains, France.
16.
Kiffin Rockwell has a gravestone at Emma Jarnagin Cemetery in Morristown, Tennessee where his family is buried.