The Aviator: A Biography of James R. McConnell, Lafayette Escadrille Fighter Pilot

Jim McConnell was one of the first Americans to serve with the French during WWI, first as an ambulance driver and then as a pilot.

On the University of Virginia campus, one can find a winged, 12—foot—tall bronze statue titled The Aviator. Curiously, The Aviator is a memorial to a UVA dropout, James Rogers McConnell.

McConnell was a fighter pilot in the famous squadron of American volunteers who fought for the French prior to US entry into World War I, the Lafayette Escadrille.

Prior to ...