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Show I OUR AERIAL KNIGHTS. ,t, New horoes of tho air, masters of H aerial dueling, will appear from time f to time. Americans will be particu- ;.' larly distinguished in the fighting this e' year and next. Already there are V "aces" among the American avia- re lora, and somo of them will become as celebrated, perhaps, as the wonder- . CuI "Red Devil" of Germany, Baron j! von Richtofen, wno was slain behind i( tho British lines a few days ago after g he had brought down his eightieth air- t , plane. That is far and away the jj -tar record of the war. I The success of Eddio Ricke.nbacher, I professional automobile racer, in bring- c ing down an feucmy with the aid of j t'aptain Norman Hall, is not a marvel- ous exploit, but it gives us an intima- 6 tiou of the kind of men who become " stars in the air warfare. Rickenbacher 0 is a " apood demon," who went to 1 I'Vance looking for exciting adventure. I He became chauffeur for General e Pershing, and for a time found content I1 in whisking the American commander j back and forth across France. While c ' he passed along the lines he saw the f' white birds of the war fleets darting I in and out among the clouds, and now J and then engaging in glorious battle. ! ft was too much for the speed demon, i and he worked himself loose from the i conspicuous honor of driving the general's gen-eral's car and entered the air service. His rise was rapid because he had the ( nerve, the daring, the mingled madness I ' and common sense of the true aerial warrior. There are many sueh American fly-1 fly-1 ers iu the making. They will emulate the deeds of Baron von Richtofen, who , was a gallant and dauntless fighter; of (he groat British battler, Captain Ball, and of that other German hero, the ' grim Captain Boelke. i Baron von Richtofen was really a I general, or, shall we say, "field marshal," mar-shal," of the air. He developed squad-ion squad-ion fighting, and was especially noted 1 for the formation in which a number of I aviators chase one another around in ( a charmed circle which the enemy finds difficult to combat. Naturally, you cannot easily get in behind a fighter who is closely followed by a companion flyer, and that companion by another, ft was a formation that earned j for the baron many of his triumphs. Tn somo of his leisure hours the barou j set down his experiences in a diary. always paying homage to the brav-j brav-j ery of the British flyers. He tells of one enemy who maneuvered I against him for a long time, and who, j Just before he was shot through the j head, waved to him as much as to say, , ' ' How goes it with you?" The baron was shot down once before his fatal plunge. Shortly after capsiz-iug capsiz-iug his twentieth enemy machine, he began a battle with his usual confidence. confi-dence. A German squadron was pitted against a British squadron. So sure was he of himself that he grew over-dariug over-dariug and two bullets went through his gasoline tank. His machine fell at a terrible speed, but he was able to land safely, just as one of the British machines fell in A wreck beside him. Baron Richtofen gained the name of the "Red Devil" because he painted part of his machine red. After that, whenever he was in the air, his enemies knew of it, but they did uot avoid him and finally his fine courage and eagerness eager-ness for battle brought him a hero's death. Our own boys soon will be evolving into stars of the Richtofen type. The sure nerves, the clear vision, the marvelous mar-velous sense of balance, the master's skill, all belong to many a lad who will :' earn fame in France, And from among these some marvel, who possesses all the necessary qualities in a surpassing degree, de-gree, will go forth to scores of victories. |