Lafayette Escadrille (1958)

William A. Wellman: Narrator

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Narrator : A half-forgotten corner of France in a wholly-forgotten war. In memory of the heroes of the Lafayette Escadrille, who died in defense of life and of liberty. This monument, this patch of foreign sky, belongs to a handful of Americans who flew for France and died for France in the First World War. They came with an air of adventure or a sense of impatience in the days before America entered the war. The wore French uniforms, they fought in French planes, and they fell in love with French women. These weren't just names in 1917; they were headlines. But this story is about a man whose name isn't carved in stone with the other young men of that old war. He ran away to war for reasons of his own. His name is Thad Walker.

• [last lines] 

  Narrator : It stands in aging splendor on the outskirts of Paris. A war turned to stone in the broad museum of Europe. To the Americans who wore French uniforms, who fought in French planes, and fell in love with French women, history has reserved two words: Lafayette Escadrille.

• Narrator : Here they waited until some pilot at the front got killed. They didn't wait long.

• Narrator : Here they learned to fly by the seat of their pants.