On the morning of September 25, 1918, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker (he held rank of first lieutenant at this time) took off alone from an American aerodrome near Verdun. The night before he had been given command of the 94th Aero Squadron, the celebrated “Hat-in-the-Ring” unit. It was his first day as squadron commander, and he intended to lead from the front. He climbed into his SPAD XIII and headed east across the scarred landscape of the St. Mihiel salient.
The war on the ground was moving toward the Meuse-Argonne offensive. In the air the German Flying Circus still contested every patrol. Rickenbacker flew over the battered remnants of Fort Douaumont and turned toward Etain. Almost at once he spotted two German two-seat reconnaissance machines heading out of German territory. Five Fokker D.VII fighters flew above and behind them as escort.
Rickenbacker immediately began climbing into the sun. The glare would hide him until the last possible moment. Once he had gained position behind the formation, he cut his engine, put the nose down, and dived. The nearest Fokker never saw him. Rickenbacker lined up the enemy aircraft and fired a long burst from both machine guns. The bullets ripped through the fuselage. The German pilot was killed instantly. His plane fell away and crashed just south of Etain.
Without breaking off, Rickenbacker flew straight through the remaining Fokkers and turned on one of the two-seaters. He closed rapidly and poured fire into the observation plane until it too went down. The surviving Germans scattered in confusion. The entire fight lasted only a few minutes.
Rickenbacker returned to the field at 9:30 a.m., jumped into a car with another officer, and drove to the lines to obtain official confirmation from balloon observers and ground troops. The two victories were confirmed: a Fokker at 8:40 a.m. near Billy – and a two-seater ten minutes later over the Forêt de Spincourt. They brought his personal score to ten.
The Army originally recognized the action with a Distinguished Service Cross. Twelve years later, in 1930, the award was upgraded to the Congressional Medal of Honor. President Herbert Hoover presented it to Rickenbacker at Bolling Field. The citation praised his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty” in attacking seven enemy planes while on a voluntary patrol.
The engagement revealed the qualities that would make Rickenbacker America’s leading ace. He was aggressive but never reckless. He used the sun, altitude, and surprise to stealthily sneak up on unknowing enemy fighter pilots. By the Armistice he had 26 confirmed victories – more than any other American pilot in the war. The September 25 fight, fought on his first morning in command, remains the action for which he is most remembered. It was a brief, violent demonstration of skill and nerve over the shattered fields of eastern France.
Captain Rickenbacker would become a hero for many young boys growing up during The Great War – World War I. Inevitably they would play the role of an ace fighter pilot in their wooden toy planes – like Captain Eddie Rickenbacker. Eddie would live long enough to give pep talks to WW II fighter pilots, with General Hap Arnold, after Pearl Harbor. Here is Rickenbacker’s Medal of Honor citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy near Billy, France, 25 September 1918. While on a voluntary patrol over the lines, 1st Lt. Rickenbacker attacked seven enemy planes (five type Fokker, protecting two type Halberstadt). Disregarding the odds against him, he dived on them and shot down one of the Fokkers out of control. He then attacked one of the Halberstadts and sent it down also.
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