WWI flying ace Raoul Lufbery to be honored in CT next month
By Matthew Zabierek
via the Record-Journal newspaper myrecordjournal.com web site
Maj. Raoul Lufbery, World War I American flying ace
WALLINGFORD — The town will host a ceremony next month to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of former town resident Maj. Raoul Lufbery, World War I flying ace.
A special military parade and plaque dedication ceremony will be held May 5 to honor Lufbery.
“He was a legend, he was a hero,” said Bob Stickle, whose late wife was Lufbery’s great niece.
In 1916, Lufbery joined a group of American volunteers – the Lafayette Escadrille – that fought with French forces for nearly two years before America entered the war. Within three months, Lufbery recorded five official kills and went onto to record 17, becoming America’s first ace pilot in the war, according to the National Aviation Hall of Fame. He is the namesake of Lufbery Park and Lufbery Avenue.
Lufbery was killed on May 19, 1918 while attacking a heavily armed Albatross bomber, according to the aviation hall of fame.
The event honoring the anniversary of Lufbery’s passing will start at 11 a.m. with a short military procession starting at Town Hall, 45 S. Main St., and ending at the Wallingford Historical Society building, 180 S. Main St. The Governor's First Company and the Second Company of the Connecticut National Guard will the lead the procession.
The procession will be followed by ceremony to dedicate a 2x3 foot bronze plaque.
Several officials are expected to speak, including Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr., local legislators and a Lufbery family descendant, according to a press release.
Dickinson called Lufbury a “trailblazer.”
“You can look at him as one of the forerunners of the U.S. Air Force,” Dickinson said Wednesday. “He was one of the first to show the promise and effectiveness and the need for really having a readiness for air combat...His legacy lives on...”
The event was organized by the Wallingford 350th Jubilee Committee, a group organizing events to celebrate the town’s 350th anniversary in 2020.
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