Name: Paul Frank Baer Country: United States Rank: 1st Lieutenant Services: French Air Service United States Air Service Squadrons: N124, Spa80 (FAS) 103rd Aero (USAS) Victories: 9 Born: 29 January 1895 Place of Birth: Fort Wayne, Indiana Died: 9 December 1930 Place of Death: Hong Kong Notes Baer joined the Lafayette Flying Corps in February 1917. In August, he was assigned to Spa80 where he remained until reassigned to N124 in January 1918. In February, the American pilots of N124 transferred to the United States Air Service to form the 103rd Pursuit Squadron. Baer scored his first victory during March and on 23 April 1918, he scored his fifth victory to become the first American ace of the United States Air Service. On the morning of 22 May 1918, Baer scored his ninth victory but was then shot down by a member of Jasta 18, possibly Hans Mⁿller. Badly injured when his SPAD S.XIII crashed near Armentieres, he was captured by the Germans. Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) "On 11 March 1918, alone attacked a group of seven enemy pursuit machines, destroying one which crashed to the ground near the French lines northeast of Reims. On 16 March, he attacked two enemy two-seaters, one of which fell in flames, striking the ground in approximately the same region." DSC citation Aces ╖ Aircraft ╖ Books ╖ Chat ╖ Forum ╖ Guests ╖ Links ╖ Medals ╖ News ╖ Search ╖ Vote Copyright ⌐ 1997,1998 The Aerodrome Page revised on 18 Nov 1997