Victor Chapman was the first American pilot to die in WWI. Born in New York City in 1890, he spent some of his youth in France so became a dual citizen at the age of eight. A graduate of Harvard, he joined the French Foreign Legion on 30 August 1914 and saw combat with their 3rd March Regiment. He transferred to the Aviation Service and flew many missions as a pilot for the French 1st Aviation Group, before becoming one of the founding members of the Lafayette Escadrille. A very aggressive and fearless fighter pilot, he was wounded on several missions before being shot down 6kms behind enemy lines, just north of Douaumont. His funeral was held in the American Cathedral of Paris although his body hadn’t been recovered. After the war some remains were recovered, but definitive identification was not made. Those remains are buried at the Meuse Argonne American Cemetery under his headstone and his coffin at the Lafayette Escadrille is empty. The name Victor CHAPNAW appears on the American Volunteers Monument in Paris but since the name CHAPNAW doesn’t appear in any Lafayette Escadrille records we suspect that this is a misspelling of Chapman’s name. He was a prolific letter writer during the war, so a collection of his letters detailing his exploits was published as "Letters from France" by Victor Emmanuel Chapman and John J. Chapman.