Commemoration ceremony in France for WWI US Army pilot Quentin Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt, who died 100 years ago this week.

Quentin Roosevelt remembered in France 

By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, United States World War One Centennial Commission

Quentin Roosevelt, son of US President Theodore Roosevelt, and US Army aviator during WWI, was commemorated this week in France, on the 100th anniversary of his tragic combat death.

Quentin Roosevelt in Nieuport trainer.Roosevelt was remembered in the town of Coulonges-Cohan, where he was shot down while flying observation missions with the 95th Aero Squadron. The ceremony was attended by his great nephew, Theodore Roosevelt IV, and by Helen Patton, granddaughter of US Army General George S. Patton, who fought in the area during both WWI and WWII. The ceremony included a wreath laying, and a flyover by the French Air Force.

The Roosevelt family was very active in supporting the war effort. All three of Quentin Roosevelt's brothers joined him in taking officer commissions during the war. Sister Ethel was the first Roosevelt in a war zone, serving as a nurse in France. Theodore Jr. and Archie were onboard the first U.S.military troop ship to deploy to the war zone. Both would be seriously wounded in the fighting before the war's end.

Brother Kermit, thinking that it would take too long for American troops to go into action, used his father’s assistance to be commissioned in the British army, and served in Palestine. The former President, himself, tried to return to uniform, only to be denied by order of President Wilson.

With American entry into World War I, Quentin thought his mechanical skills would be useful to the Army. He dropped out of college in May 1917 to join the newly formed 1st Reserve Aero Squadron, the first air reserve unit in the nation. He trained on Long Island at an airfield later renamed Roosevelt Field in his honor.

Quentin Roosevelt.After deploying to France, Lt. Roosevelt first helped in setting up the large Air Service training base at Issoudun. He was a supply officer and then over time ran one of the training airfields. Eventually he became a pilot in the 95th Aero Squadron, part of the 1st Pursuit Group. The unit was posted to Touquin, France, France. Roosevelt had one confirmed kill of a German aircraft he shot down on July 10, 1918. Four days later, in a massive aerial engagement at the commencement of the Second Battle of the Marne, he was himself shot down behind German lines.

Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, Commander of the 94th Aero Squadron (also known as the "Hat-in-the-Ring" Squadron), in his memoirs described Roosevelt's character as soldier and pilot in the following words:

"As President Roosevelt's son he had rather a difficult task to fit himself in with the democratic style of living which is necessary in the intimate life of an aviation camp. Every one who met him for the first time expected him to have the airs and superciliousness of a spoiled boy. This notion was quickly lost after the first glimpse one had of Quentin. Gay, hearty and absolutely square in everything he said or did, Quentin Roosevelt was one of the most popular fellows in the group. We loved him purely for his own natural self.

"He was reckless to such a degree that his commanding officers had to caution him repeatedly about the senselessness of his lack of caution. His bravery was so notorious that we all knew he would either achieve some great spectacular success or be killed in the attempt. Even the pilots in his own flight would beg him to conserve himself and wait for a fair opportunity for a victory. But Quentin would merely laugh away all serious advice."

Quentin's plane, a Nieuport 28, was shot down in aerial combat over Chamery, a hamlet of Coulonges-en-Tardenois (now Coulonges-Cohan). He was felled by two machine gun bullets which struck him in the head. The German military buried him with full battlefield honors. Since the plane had crashed so near the front lines, they used two pieces of basswood saplings, bound together with wire from his Nieuport, to fashion a cross for his grave.

For propaganda purposes, they made a postcard of the dead pilot and his plane. However, this was met with shock in Germany, which still held Theodore Roosevelt in high respect and was impressed that a former president's son died on active duty.

The French government awarded Quentin Roosevelt the Croix de Guerre with Palm, the nation's highest combat award. Today, he is buried next to is brother, Theodore Jr., at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, in Colleville-sur-Mer, France.

Quentin Roosevelt's original grave in France. Today, he is buried next to his brother, Theodore Jr., at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, in Colleville-sur-Mer, France.

Flyover by the French Air Force at the ceremony honoring Quentin Roosevelt.