Raymond Brooks of Framingham was the country’s last living Flying Ace when he died in 1991. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism in France during WWI.
FRAMINGHAM – The sky was clear on Sept. 14, 1918, when Raymond Brooks, a 23-year-old from Framingham, single-handedly outmaneuvered eight German planes over enemy territory.
At 2:18 p.m. that Saturday, Brooks, Second Lt. (Air Service), U.S. Army, was flying over Mars-la-Tour, France, when his patrol was attacked by 12 enemy Fokkers. Brooks fought wildly with eight of them, dropping from over 1,000 feet to within a few feet of the ground. With his right control surface out and his plane pierced with bullets, he managed to destroy two of them. His wingman Lt. Philip Edward Hassinger shot down another two, before he was attacked and went missing in action. Brooks escaped the last four pursuing enemy planes by diving with wide open throttle.
The triumph later earned him the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest military award that can be given to a member of the United States Army.
“My chances of escape were so slight that I figured I’d come to the end,” wrote Brooks in a diary entry about the feat. “I was frankly scared.”
Brooks’ story as one of Framingham’s most famous World War I veterans was highlighted Monday in a lecture by Kevin Swope, a researcher at Babson College. The Framingham History Center observed the centennial anniversary of the armistice that ended the first World War on Nov. 11, 1918. Dozens came to the Edgell Memorial Library on Oak Street throughout the day to remember.
Part of the day included memorializing three Framingham men who died during the war – U.S. Army Pfc. Charles A. Bellows, U.S. Army Pvt. Oscar W. Lindsay and U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Carl H. Stensson – with a presentation of the Mass. Medal of Liberty. The medal is “awarded to the next of kin of service men and women from the Commonwealth killed in action, or who died in service while in a designated combat area in the line of duty.”
Audience members were in awe after hearing the story of Brooks’, who was the country’s last living Flying Ace when he died on July 24, 1991.
Brooks graduated as valedictorian from Framingham Academy and High School in 1913, then with a bachelor’s degree in electrochemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1917. With dreams of flying, he joined the army that same year, when military aircraft was still in its infancy.
In the audience, Julie O’Brien said she was riveted hearing Swope recount Brooks’ story. Her husband, Jim, is a grand-nephew of the local pilot, and around her finger she wears what the family believes is the wedding ring of Ruth, Brooks’ wife. She said Brooks is a point of pride for the family and they visited his exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
“It was really moving,” said O’Brien.
Even after he resigned from the army and received an honorable discharge in December 1922, flying stayed a part of Brooks’ life, said Swope.
“Even when he couldn’t see anymore, he’d ride as a passenger,” said Swope. “He loved it. He never tired of flying.”
Zane Razzaq can be reached at 508-626-3919 or zrazzaq@wickedlocal.com and on Twitter at @zanerazz.
https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/20181112/framingham-wwi-pilots-solo-dogfight-highlighted-at-history-center