(Pictured with lion cub Whiskey)

The carefree playboy who became a beloved, fearless leader. It was said that he could have gotten along without the squadron but not the reverse.

The irrepressible son of a wealthy tycoon who committed to his unrelenting vision for an American squadron in defiance of his domineering father.

Victor Chapman was descended from Founding Father John Jay, and was as devoted to helping others as he was addicted to danger. He was loved by all.

Kiffin Rockwell, whose idealism was matched by his bravery and his unrelenting hunt for the enemy. He scored the Escadrille’s first kill.

Bert Hall, who fought with courage and played cards (and everything else) without scruples.

James McConnell loved a good joke, a beautiful woman, and wrote one of the finest accounts of the Escadrille.

The inscrutable loner who became a consummate ace, and who was the lion cubs’ best friend.

The 20-year old deserter from the US Navy, was haunted by an unrequited love and fought fearlessly in the trenches and in the air.

A former mercenary who’d flown on opposite sides of the Mexican Revolution as fellow Lafayette Escadrille member Didier Masson.

A former mercenary who’d flown on opposite sides of the Mexican Revolution as fellow Lafayette Escadrille member Edwin Parsons.

James Norman Hall, the poet/journalist who miraculously survived two shootdowns and imprisonment, and later coauthored Mutiny on the Bounty.

The pacifist who shot down four enemy planes—endlessly struggling to reconcile his belief in his cause and his hatred for the war.