Asheville – It was the first war in which airplanes were used, and a historical marker on the corner of Merrimon Avenue and Hillside Street in Asheville marks the location of one of the first fighter pilots.
The marker reads: “Kiffin Rockwell – World War I soldier, aviator. First pilot of Escadrille Lafayette to shoot down enemy plane. Killed in action Sept. 23, 1916. Home 200 yds. W.”
For those who don’t know, the Escadrille Lafayette was the name of the French Air Force unit during World War I, composed mainly of American volunteer pilots flying fighters. Fighters is a generous term since the planes were little more than wood and canvas with an engine and guns.
According to the sketch of Rockwell found at nc.maps.arcgis.com “Rockwell was among four North Carolinians who flew for France in World War I. The others were James Baugham of Washington, Arthur Bluethenthal of Wilmington, and James McConnell of Carthage.”
Rockwell, born to James Chester and Loula Ayres Rockwell in Newport, TN, in September of 1892, was 14 when his family moved to Asheville after his dad died. “After spending summers with his grandfather, a Civil War veteran, he developed a strong interest in the army and in 1908 enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute. The next year Rockwell received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy but declined it because he believed he would not see wartime service serving in the Navy.”
“Rockwell transferred to Washington and Lee University where [he] graduated with a degree in journalism. After graduation, he spent some time traveling out west and settled in Atlanta, where he got a job with an advertising agency. He was there in August 1914 when Germany declared war on France.”
On August 7, three days after war had broken out and America had published a neutrality declaration, “Kiffin and his brother Paul sailed for France and volunteered for the French Army. As members of the French Foreign Legion, both men were severely wounded. After recovering from the thigh injury that ended his infantry service, Kiffin Rockwell became one of the first Americans to join the newly formed Lafayette Escadrille, an American volunteer aerial combat squadron. Twenty-eight days after he joined the squadron and with only brief training and no previous aviation experience, on May 18, 1916, Rockwell became the first American to shoot down an enemy plane. For the next four months, he participated in every mission his squadron was assigned and shot down a second plane.”
However, “on September 23, 1916, during his first mission after returning from leave, Rockwell engaged in a dogfight with a German plane. He was shot in the chest, making him the second American killed in aerial combat. Rockwell was memorialized and honored in numerous ways both in France and the United States.” Those memorials and honors include the historical marker of which this article is about.