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| Name: | Robert Opie Lindsay | Country: | United States | Rank: | Lieutenant | Service: | United States Air Service | Squadrons: | 139th Aero | Victories: | 6 | Born: | 25 December 1894 | Place of Birth: | Madison, North Carolina | Died: | 1 August 1952 | | Place of Death: | Fort Worth, Texas |
| | | | A SPAD S.XIII pilot from Madison, North Carolina, Lindsay joined the United States Air Service in 1917. Following preliminary training, he sailed for France where he served with the 3rd Aviation Instruction Center at Issoudun. Reassigned to the 139th Pursuit Squadron in 1918, he was wounded in action on the opening day of the St. Mihiel offensive. Recovering from his wounds in less than a week, he scored his first victories on the afternoon of 18 September 1918, shooting down two Pfalz D.III's over Pagny-sur-Moselle. By the end of October 1918, Lindsay scored four more victories and became the third highest scoring ace in his squadron. During World War II, he served with the U.S. Army Air Corp where he attained the rank of Colonel before retiring at about the time the U.S. Air Force was formed. A founding member of the Civil Aeronautics Administration (forerunner to the Federal Aviation Administration), Lindsay assisted in the development of Berry Field in Nashville, Tennessee and remained actively involved in civil aeronautics throughout much of his life. |
| Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) |
| "For extraordinary heroism in action near Bantheville, France, 27 October 1918. In company with two other planes, Lt. Lindsay attacked three enemy planes (Fokker type) at an altitude of 3,000 meters and after a sharp fight, brought down one of these. While engaged with the two remaining machines, eight more planes (Fokker type) came at him from straight ahead. He flew straight through their formation, gained an advantageous position and brought down another plane before he withdrew from combat." DSC citation |
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