War Birds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator

In the summer of 1917, more than two hundred American men volunteered for service in England's Royal Flying Corps, where they would be trained to fly with the Allies until American squadrons could be organized.

John MacGavock Grider, assigned to Royal Air Force Number 85 Squadron,

flying SE-5a pursuit planes, was shot down and killed some twenty miles behind German lines in the summer of 1918. He was not a hero, nor were his training and combat experiences much different from those of his f...