Frank Luke, Arizonan, and a Chinese Balloon

 

From Task and Purpose:

The balloon’s downing was the first air-to-air kill ever for the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor, which made its combat debut in 2014 by bombing an Islamic State group command center in Syria, and the Navy is currently working to recover its debris from off the Carolina coast.

While downing a balloon is an unlikely kill in the 21st century, the call signs used by those jets, as well as a second pair of F-22s, were a nod to an American fighter ace who made his name doing just that during World War I.

“The call sign of the first flight was Frank01. The second flight of F-22s was Luke01,” said Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of United States Northern Command on Monday. “Frank Luke, Medal of Honor winner in World War I for his activities that he conducted against observation balloons.

That ace was 2nd Lt. Frank Luke Jr., the so-called “Arizona Balloon Buster” and the first U.S. Army Air Service airman to receive the Medal of Honor who earned his nickname by shooting down 14 German observation balloons over France in less than three weeks.

Luke Air Force Base in the Phoenix area is named for Frank Luke. An Arizonan who earned the Medal of Honor. His Medal of Honor Citation:

After having previously destroyed a number of enemy aircraft within 17 days he voluntarily started on a patrol after German observation balloons. Though pursued by 8 German planes which were protecting the enemy balloon line, he unhesitatingly attacked and shot down in flames 3 German balloons, being himself under heavy fire from ground batteries and the hostile planes. Severely wounded, he descended to within 50 meters of the ground, and flying at this low altitude near the town of Murvaux opened fire upon enemy troops, killing 6 and wounding as many more. Forced to make a landing and surrounded on all sides by the enemy, who called upon him to surrender, he drew his automatic pistol and defended himself gallantly until he fell dead from a wound in the chest.

Frank Luke Jr. who received the Medal of Honor for shooting down 14 German balloons during World War I (Task & Purpose image)

American World War I fighter ace, Frank Luke Jr (1897 - 1918), with his SPAD S.XIII biplane, France, 18th September 1918.

Published in Military
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  1. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    The Frank Luke statue is on the grounds of the Arizona State Capitol.  To the left is the Arizona State Senate building that was built in 1960.  To the right is the 1900 Arizona Capitol building, complete with a copper roof.  In the background on the right is the nine story tall Executive Tower, built in 1974 I recall, which has the Governor’s Office and so forth.

    • #1
  2. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Observation balloons were considered to be the toughest aerial targets of the day. They were surrounded by antiaircraft guns that were well aware of the altitude of the balloons they were covering and could adjust their fire accordingly. The balloons themselves were not easy targets. It required many hits to bring one down even if using incendiary ammunition. Getting that many hits on a nearly stationary target involved flying toward it in a straight line. This not only made the task of the antiaircraft guns easier, it also allowed the enemy aircraft covering the balloons to get in behind the attacker. Eddie Rickenbacker, who shot down 26 aircraft during the war, destroyed only five balloons.

    Luke received two Distinguished Service Crosses as well. One was for destroying eight observation balloons over a period of four days. The second was for destroying two balloons, then turning on the planes that came up to attack him as the second balloon started down. He shot down two of them, and despite being nearly out of fuel, took down a third – becoming the first US pilot to shoot down five enemy aircraft in one day.

    Great post, Doug.

    • #2
  3. Mad Gerald Coolidge
    Mad Gerald
    @Jose

    German balloons directed deadly artillery strikes against my grandfathers battalion in 1918.  As his unit marched for several days to the front, no one noticed the balloon in the distance, just above the hills on the horizon.  A platoon in front of his was wiped out.  They adjusted their route to stay behind the hills after that.

    You would think NORAD would detect these things but  apparently not.  Thank goodness for some guy in Montana and his cell phone camera.

    • #3
  4. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    Some of our F15 driver friends (guys that flew the T38 with Mrs Tex) have been having some light hearted fun on social media with their Raptor pilot friends.  The F15 is 104-0 in aerial combat (no balloons).

    • #4
  5. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Navy taking up Air Force slack again.

    I recall flying into Glendale Muni with my father in a 172 or when we were lucky, a 182RG, and noticing all these fields scattered across the chart named Luke.  Training airfields (used to?) have many dedicated alternate landing sites, because fighter jet pilots in training have a lot going on.

    Barely related, I also recall seeing a flight of Phantoms on the ramp at Kirtland doing a run-up before taking off, and my father told me that they’d just burned more fuel than we would in a year.

    • #5
  6. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Tex929rr (View Comment):

    Some of our F15 driver friends (guys that flew the T38 with Mrs Tex) have been having some light hearted fun on social media with their Raptor pilot friends. The F15 is 104-0 in aerial combat (no balloons).

    • #6
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