Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 110, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 May 1918 — TWO AVIATORS DASH TO THEIR DEATH [ARTICLE]

TWO AVIATORS DASH TO THEIR DEATH

• With The American Armies in ! Lorraine, May 15.—1 saw two American aviators die in a quick and terrible tragedy northwest of Toul today. Their plane became uncontrollable and dropped to earth. First I noticed three observation planes at an altitude of about 3,000 feet. Suddenly the three darted into a cloud. Then I saw one plunging straight downward, the motor going full power. I expected it to straighten out but it kept plunging, the motor roaring louder and louder. The machine struck with an echoing in a field two hundred yards from a vilage behind the American lines. Ambulance men reported it had torn a huge hole in the earth, the engine crushing, pilot and observer. Quietly and bravely a detail went out in full view of German artillery to gather the remains for burial. The other planes now free from the clouds curded above, their occupants peering overside to learn .the fate of their comrades. Then they returned to their duty of watching the German lines as though nothing had happened other than the every day irony of war.