To the Last Man - Jeff Shaara [393]
Until her death, Richthofen’s mother maintains the house at Schweidnitz (today known as Swidnica, Poland) as a museum to her fallen son, but when the Soviets occupy the region in 1945, the museum and its artifacts are either looted by soldiers, or shipped to Russia. Many of the items are never recovered.
As the war ends, JG-1 is demobilized, its roster of pilots so decimated that nearly all who remain never actually served with Richthofen. In the 1930s, as Adolf Hitler rebuilds the might of the German war machine, Richthofen’s name is called upon again for inspiration: one wing of Goering’s Luftwaffe, JG-2, is now called the “Richthofen Wing.” After the war, Richthofen’s name survives the ash heap of Nazi Germany, and in 1955, with Germany now a part of NATO, the German air force is reestablished. To this day, Jagdgeschwader 71 is known as the Richthofen wing.
The pop-culture appeal of Richthofen’s legacy is not confined to Germany. Among many examples, the most graphic and entertaining begins in 1965, when cartoonist Charles Schulz introduces a story line in his Peanuts comic strip, in which Snoopy begins a lengthy and frustrating series of duels with his nemesis, the Red Baron.
Though historians continue to debate whether or not Manfred von Richthofen is deserving of his reputation as Germany’s finest flying ace, or whether the man is simply the beneficiary of the kaiser’s desperate need for propaganda, one undeniable fact remains. Manfred von Richthofen shot down eighty Allied fighter planes, including a significant number of the finest and most technically advanced planes of the day. No one else on either side came close.
LOTHAR VON RICHTHOFEN
He learns of his brother’s death while still in the hospital in Dusseldorf, his recuperation eventually requiring a four-month stay. But the Air Service remains desperate for heroes, and though General von Hoeppner suggests he serve behind a desk, Lothar insists he once again be allowed to fly. His wish is granted, and he returns to JG-1, where, on August 12, 1918, he scores his fortieth and final kill. The next day, he is seriously wounded in combat, and he spends the remainder of the war recuperating yet again.
As the war ends, he returns home to Schweidnitz, and in 1920, upon the death of his father, becomes master of the Richthofen estate. He marries that same year and has one son, but Lothar is not a man who adapts to peacetime, and those who know him for his boisterous personality see a changed man, who finds no enjoyment in life. His marriage soon dissolves. In the disastrous postwar climate of Germany, jobs for former soldiers are virtually nonexistent, but trained pilots are an asset, and Lothar accepts a position flying cargo planes. But his recklessness catches up to him, and on July 4, 1921, he crashes near Hamburg, and dies the same day. He is twenty-six.
THE LEGACY OF THE LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE
From its formation in April 1916, until it is officially brought into the American Air Service in February 1918, the Lafayette Escadrille brings to the American people more awareness of the Great War than any other single factor. From newspapers to magazines, to an enormous volume of individual fan mail, the pilots of the escadrille are celebrated, ironically, like national heroes. From the German point of view, the escadrille is the single most effective tool of French propaganda at work in the United States.
For decades after the escadrille’s final flights, hundreds of men make claim to having served on its roster. Though a large number of American pilots fly in various French squadrons, there is no other unit that is as uniquely and distinctly American. Throughout its existence, its roster includes