Joseph Frank Wehner
Joseph Frank "Fritz" Wehner (20 September 1895 – 18 September 1918) was an American fighter pilot and wingman to Frank Luke.
He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on 20 September 1895. Wehner's athletic achievements as captain of the Everett High School football team earned him a scholarship to the Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire in 1914. He was working for the YMCA in Berlin, Germany when war was declared. He enlisted in the Signal Corps during June 1917. While receiving flight training, Wehner's German ancestry led to an investigation followed by an unsubstantiated arrest for suspicion of treason by the Secret Service. He was cleared and departed for England in February 1918. He was assigned to the 27th Aero Squadron under Major Harold Hartney in July 1918.
Flying as wing man to the mercurial balloon-buster Frank Luke,Wehner shot down one Fokker D.VII and five balloons in just three days of aerial combat during September 1918.
Protecting Luke as he attacked a third balloon, Wehner's SPAD XIII was shot down by Luftstreitkräfte ace Georg von Hantlemann of Jasta 15 on 18 September 1918.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross twice, the second time with Oak Leaf clusters during his brief career.[1]
Notes
- ^ Joseph Frank Wehner - The Aerodrome - Aces and Aircraft of World War I at www.theaerodrome.com
External links
- Lieutenant Joseph Wehner Wehner biography
- July 14, 2008 - 90th anniversary Commemoration of United States Air Service in France
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