Someone should have figured out that the Germans were taking notice also. The 27th's assault on German observation during St. Mihiel took terrible effect on the Army's overall operation. Before Frank and Joe, observation balloons had been surrounded by psychological defenses at least as formidible as the anti-aircraft emplacements. The 27th's pilots not only destroyed balloons - they destroyed their illusion of invulnerability, too. Without fighters to defend their drachen, German commanders were forced to winch them down, leaving their generals blind and confused.

By the morning of the 18th, several things had occurred. The front lines had restabilized along the defensive front the Germans had hoped to pull back to before the 12th. While the opposing armies dug in, Allied generals began assessing their situation and planning for the Marne offensive. Along the lines, troops on both sides were too busy with other tasks for any heavy fighting.

Fresh from their day off, the pilots of the 27th were feeling altogether too cocky, perhaps none moreso than Frank Luke. He had single-handedly shot down six balloons and an Albatros and had participated in the destruction of two other drachen. Depending on how one counts such things, Luke could claim nine kills - enough to tie him with Rickenbacker as America's leading ace. Officially credited with seven, he was hot on Rick's heels.

In fact, Frank's top competitor wasn't even Rickenbacker. It was Joe Wehner.

But while Joe and Frank planned more balloon-busting trips, German commanders planned a trap.

The weather continued to be bad all day on Sept. 18, but Joe and Frank were hankering to go back up and try their dusk-attack balloon trick again. That evening Frank announced he was going up to get those two balloons that swung above the Three- Fingered Lake. Joe would be hanging on his wing.

Luke and Wehner set off at 5 p.m. It was just getting dark. They flew together at a medium level until they reached the lake. There they separated, Luke diving straight at the balloon to the west, Wehner staying aloft to hold the sky against a surprise attack from Hun airplanes.

Over St. Mihiel they sighted two balloons above Labeuville and Luke climbed swiftly. It was getting to be old business, this making altitude, giving the instruments a last quick reading, then tipping into a full-throttled dive...

Luke's balloon rose out of the swampy land that borders the upper western edge of Three-Fingered Lake. The enemy defenses saw his approach and began a murderous fire through which Luke calmly dived as usual. He reached the range where Archie batteries wouldn't dare fire before he put in his first burst. That was all he needed. The sausage gave a great red sigh and collapsed.

He zoomed up, levelled off, came up and over, rolled, and made for the other drachen, scanning the skies for Joe. He saw something else - a formation of six Fokkers bearing down on him from out of Germany.

The Germans are not a stupid people. They had witnessed the new Allied pattern of attacking at dusk during St. Mihiel - they just couldn't get sufficient fighter caps together to protect them. But with a respite on the 17th and 18th, the Germans had set a surprise for Frank and Joe. Two big fat drachen, close together - protected by formations of six and three Fokker D-7s riding the low clouds above the bait.

In the busy skies of St. Mihiel, Frank and Joe had run into similar odds. They had faced eight Fokker D-7s over Buzy on the 14th, seven Fokker D-7s over Bois d'Hingry on Sept. 15, and Joe had singlehandedly flamed a drachen and escaped from five Fokker D-7s later that evening. But in each of those combats, the situation had been different. Wehner had bounced the Fokkers over Buzy after Luke flamed the drachen - so escape was easier. Over Bois d'Hingry, Joe had knocked down two of the Fokkers - again, after Luke's drachen attack - and the five survivors had orders to defend the surviving balloon, not chase raiding Spads. In Joe's solo drachen attack, patrolling Cignognes had intervened to allow his escape.

But on Wednesday, Sept. 18, Joe and Frank were all alone. Outnumbered 9-2 and fighting two formations, the situation gave them no advantage. To make matters worse, Frank - perhaps feeling invinceable or trusting the shock value of his boldness - made a terrible tactical decision that would expose his wingman and cost his life.

The six Fokkers now made for Frank with their in-line Benzes roaring. Perhaps when Wehner fired the red signal light Frank Jr. had failed to see it in the midst of all that Archie fire. At any rate, they were in for it now.

The German Fokkers were to the west of him, with the second balloon to the east. With characteristic foolhardiness, Luke determined to withdraw by way of the other balloon and take one burst at it before the Boche reached him. He continued straight on east, thus permitting the pursuing formation of Fokkers to flank him to the south.

Luke bored in on the second balloon as its crew frantically attempted to haul it down. The tracers did their work, and Frank banked off as the second drachen puffed a burst of crimson and black. He had descended to within 90 feet of the ground to get the sausage.

Now came the hard part. Frank scanned the situation quickly as he came around from his attack run and realized he was in trouble. The six Fokkers had him completely cut off, and to make matters worse three new Fokkers now emerged from the north.

And then Luke saw his pal, Wehner.

Wehner had all this time been patrolling the line to the north of Luke's balloons. He had seen the six Fokkers, but had supposed that Luke would keep ahead of them and abandon his attempt at the second enemy balloon. He fired his signal light, which was observed by Allied balloon observers but not by Luke, and immediately set off to patrol a parallel course between the enemy planes and Luke's route home. When he saw Luke dart off to the second balloon, Wehner believed that Luke had not seen his signal and was unaware of the second flight of Fokkers coming directly upon him. He quickly sheered off and went forward to meet them.

Now it was Luke's turn to come to Joe's aid - but he was too late. Amid the whirling melee, Luke caught a glimpse of Joe under fire from all three of the approaching Fokker pilots. The next instant it rolled over and slowly began to fall. As it hesitated in its flight, a burst of flames issued from the Spad's tank.

Rickenbacker would later characterize it as a deliberate sacrifice for a friend.

Consumed with fury, Luke, instead of seeking safety in flight, turned back and hurled himself at the three Fokkers. He was at a distinct disadvantage, for they had the superiority both in altitude and position, not to mention numbers. Regardless of what the chances were, Luke climbed up at them, firing as he advanced.

Picking out the pilot on the left, Luke kept doggedly on his track firing at him until he saw him burst into flame. The other two machines in the meantime had tagged on Luke's tail and their tracer bullets were flashing by his head. But as soon as he saw the end of his first enemy he made a quick renversement on number two and, firing as he came about, he shot down the second enemy machine with the first burst. The third headed for Germany and Luke had to let him go.

All this fighting had consumed less time than it takes to tell it. The two Fokkers had fallen in flames within 10 second of each other.

With rage still in his heart Luke looked about him to discover where the six enemy machines had gone. They had apparently been satisfied to leave him with their three comrades, for they were now disappearing toward the east. And just ahead of the front Luke discerned fleecy white clouds of Archie smoke breaking north of Verdun. This indicated that Allied batteries were firing at enemy airplanes in that sector.

As he approached Verdun, Luke found that five French Spads were hurrying up to attack a German Halberstadt machine, the target of all that Archie. The six Fokkers had seen the Spads coming and had gone to intercept them. Like a rocket Luke set his own Spad down at the Halberstadt. It was a two-seater machine and was evidently taking photographs at a low altitude.

The allied Archie ceased as Luke drew near. He hurled himself down at the German observer, firing both guns as he dove. The enemy machine fell into a spin and crashed a few hundred yards from the unit's old Verdun aerodrome, ground held by the 42nd (Rainbow) Division.

In less than 20 minutes Lt. Luke had shot down two balloons, two Fokkers and one enemy two-seater - a feat that is almost unequaled in the history of this war.

Frank's fuel tank expired, so he switched to his nourrice (nursemaid) tank, a 10- minute supply in his upper wing. He landed safely below Verdun at an advance field under the command of Jerry Vasconcells. Frank did not return to Rembercourt that night. Darkness was falling, his plane was shot up and, ultimately...Frank knew about Joe.

Frank spent the night sleeping under one of the big "mothers" - 16-inch American Naval artillery pieces mounted on railcars - the concussion of which was said to shake leaks in a Spad's gas lines. It was the high point in Frank's flying career and the low point of his entire life - all at the same time.

In the morning, Hartney, Rickenbacker and Mrs. Welton, the Group's YMCA "girl" drove up to get Luke in the Major's Twin-Six. Hartney remember's Luke as disconsolate. His first question: "Wehner isn't back yet, is he, Major?" Hartney said Luke knew the answer before he asked the question.

They continued on to the military headquarters in Verdun to make inquiries. Shortly after lunch the officer in charge of confirmations came out and told Lt. Luke that not only had his five victories of Sept. 18 been officially confirmed, but that three old victories had likewise been that morning confirmed, making Luke's total 14 instead of 11. Fourteen victories. Just eight days.

"The history of war aviation, I believe, has not a similar record," Rickenbacker wrote after the war. "Not even the famous Guynemer, Fonck, Ball, Bishop or the noted German Ace of Aces, Baron von Richtofen, ever won 14 victories in a single fortnight at the front. Any aircraft, whether balloon or airplane, counts as one victory, and only one, with all the services.

"In my estimation there has never during the four years of war been an aviator at the front who possessed the confidence, ability and courage that Frank Luke had shown during that remarkable two weeks."

But Frank's mind was elsewhere. As the foursome (Hartney, Rickenbacker, Welton and Luke) drove home, Luke interrupted their pleasantly vague conversation by staring Hartney in the eyes and blurting out: "Major, I'm glad it wasn't me. My mother doesn't know I'm on the front yet."

Rickenbacker says that that night (Sept. 19) the pilots of the 1st PG held a complimentary dinner in honor of Frank Luke, America's Ace of Aces. When Hartney finally introduced him, Frank stood up, smiled, said he was having a great time, then sat back down. That's when Hartney announced his week's leave to Orly.

It wasn't destined to work. All the sources agree that Frank Luke was one depressed cat on Sept. 19.

There's a picture of Frank with wreckage of the Halberstadt from Sept. 18. You know the photo was taken after Sept. 18, because it is the only plane he ever shot down that landed on the Allied side of the lines. And maybe it explains something. Most of the popular photos of Frank all seem to be taken the same day. Sensing the historic (and propaganda) implications of Frank's meteroic rise, someone in the Army command sent in a photographer, who shot Luke posing in front of his Spad, pretending to shoot one of two tripod-mounted German machine guns he and Joe had salvaged on the 17th, posing with his mechanics, standing alone in a field and in front of the Halberstadt.

Another clue: Pershing got a telegraph that night that read: "Second Lieutenant Frank Luke, Jr., Twenty-seventh Aero Squadron, First Pursuit Group, five confirmed victories, two combat planes, two observation balloons, and one observation plane in less than ten minutes." Someone from Pershing's staff must have been on the phone immediately getting the photographer in there.

My guess is that on the 19th, the brass at Verdun sent a photographer back to Rembercourt with Frank and Hartney. They spent the afternoon - it's afternoon light in these pictures - preserving Frank for posterity and the breathless, naive kids back home.

But the photos of Sept. 19th are not the same matinee idol Frank of Issoudon and San Diego. He is an aged man at 21, his face weathered and tired, his mouth tight, angry.

And then the officers of the 1st Pursuit Group did something few would have thought possible. They honored Frank Luke - a man they didn't really like. Funny how being the Ace of Aces will make a guy popular.

"In order to do this boy honor and show him that every officer in the Group appreciated his wonderful work, he was given a complimentary dinner that night by the squadrons. Many interesting speeches were made," Rickenbacker wrote after the war.

"When it came Luke's turn to respond, he got up laughing, said he was having a bully time - and sat down! Maj. Hartney came over to him and presented him with a seven days' leave in Paris - which at that time was about the highest gift at the disposal of commanding officers at the front."

What a strange moment it must have been for Frank Jr. He always figured that high achievement would eventually earn him the respect that his comrades had denied from the beginning. And he was right. But it was grudging respect, respect earned at too high a cost. Their praise rang hollow.

His orders were typed out, a leave warrant filled in, and Frank was given extra money Hartney himself drove Frank to a railroad station and made certain he got aboard the train.

The train to Paris rumbled through the night with an unsure passenger that Thursday. Frank Luke Jr., native son of the high desert, was rolling through the dark, bloodied countryside of France under a moonless, starless sky.

(One very interesting side note here: Did Joe actually die on Sept. 18, as is commonly assumed, or did he actually survive being shot down only to die two days later? Wehner's obituary states he died on Sept. 20. While this could easily have been a mistake, his service record also gives the Sept. 20 date. And a newsclipping from a Boston newspaper says Grant wrote a letter to the Wehners in which he said Joe had been forced down behind German lines and was probably captured. I have been able to find no more evidence than this - ed.)