Lieutenant Leslie Jacob Rummell (1895-1919) was an American
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
flying ace
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...
credited with seven aerial victories.
Biography
A graduate of
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, Rummell joined the 93d Aero Squadron on 7 August 1918.
He shot down his first
Fokker D.VII
The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qu ...
on 12 September over Thiacourt. His triple win on the 29th, when he downed two more Fokker D.VIIs and shared a win over an
Albatros two-seater, won him the Distinguished Service Cross. He went on to score three more times in October, including a shared win with
Chester Wright.
Rummell died in the
influenza pandemic of 1919, on 2 February.
Honors and awards
Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)
The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Leslie J. Rummell, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action in the region of Moirey, France, September 29, 1918. Lieutenant Rummell, leading a patrol of three planes, sighted an enemy biplace airplane which was protected by seven machines (Fokker type). Despite the tremendous odds, he led his patrol to the attack and destroyed the biplace. By his superior maneuvering and leadership, four more of the enemy planes were destroyed and the remaining three retired.
[(General Orders No. 126, W.D., 1919) as quoted at http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/rummell.php www.theaerodrome.com Retrieved on 27 June 2010.]
See also
*
List of World War I flying aces from the United States
References
Bibliography
* ''American Aces of World War I.'' Norman Franks, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2001. , .
1895 births
1919 deaths
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
American World War I flying aces
Cornell University alumni
Aviators from New Jersey
Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in France
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