Walter Lovell
Encyclopedia
Walter Lovell was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 serviceman.

In February 1915, Lovell joined the American Ambulance Field Service in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, being promoted to second in command of section 3. His work in the Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

 earned Lovell the Croix de Guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...

. He then joined the Lafayette Escadrille on 26 February 1917, going on to become one of the unit's most dependable flight leaders.

He scored one victory while flying with the Lafayette Escadrille. He later left with a captain's commission to general headquarters of the American Expeditionary Force after his medical test indicated a hearing loss and color blindness
Color blindness
Color blindness or color vision deficiency is the inability or decreased ability to see color, or perceive color differences, under lighting conditions when color vision is not normally impaired...

which kept him behind a desk for the balance of the war.

He was promoted to Major in August 1918 and went on to serve as chief aviation instructor in the united States until he resigned in January 1919.

He died after a three-month illness (brain abscess) on September 9, 1937.
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