Raoul Lufbery was born in France to a French woman and her American husband, that subsequently emigrated to the United States. He served with both the French Service Aeronautique and the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I, and is considered a hero by both nations and is often described as America’s first aerial ACE. He was credited with shooting down 16 enemy aircraft in aerial combat, before he was himself shot down and killed while serving with the Air Service’s 94th Aero Squadron.