Cedric Fauntleroy (sometimes also Cedric Faunt le Roy) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 pilot who in 1919 volunteered to serve in the Polish Air Force

Polish Air Force

The Polish Air Force is the military Air Force wing of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej...

 during the Polish-Bolshevik War. Fauntleroy was an air combat veteran of the Western Front in World War I. He was among the best pilots of the Polish 7th Air Escadrille

Polish 7th Air Escadrille

Polish 7th Air Escadrille , better known as the Kościuszko Squadron, was one of the units of the Polish Air Force during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921. Formed in late 1918, it was re-formed in late 1919 from US volunteers...

, dubbed the Kościuszko Escadrille (the Kosciuszko Squadron); he was promoted to colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 and he received Poland's highest military decoration: the Virtuti Militari

Virtuti Militari

The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...

. The Kosciuszko Squadron made over 400 combat flights against forces from the Soviet Union and their allies. The Kosciuszko was named in honor of Tadeusz Kościuszko

Tadeusz Kosciuszko

Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko was a Polish–Lithuanian and American general and military leader during the Kościuszko Uprising. He is a national hero of Poland, Lithuania, the United States and Belarus...

, a Polish officer who fought under Gen. George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 during the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

.

Honours and awards

• Silver Cross of Virtuti Militari
  Virtuti Militari
  The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
  
  
• Cross of Valour - four times (30 Apr 1921)