Frederick Libby
| Frederick Libby | |
|---|---|
Frederick Libby, 1918
|
|
| Born |
15 July 1891 Sterling, Colorado, United States |
| Died | 9 January 1970 (aged 77) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
Canadian Army Royal Air Force Air Service, United States Army |
| Years of service | 1915 – 1917 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit |
Royal Air Force |
| Battles/wars |
 World War I
|
| Awards | Military Cross (MC) |
Royal Air Force
Air Service, United States Army
Captain Frederick Libby (15 July 1891 – 9 January 1970) became the first American flying ace, while serving as an observer in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I.
Libby transferred to the United States Army Air Service on 15 September 1917. He returned to the United States and helped raise war funding through Liberty Loans. He was then invalided out of military service with spondylitis.
Despite his disability, and the predictions that he would die early as a result of his condition, Libby prospered as an oil prospector and businessman. He was a founder of Western Air Lines. In his latter years, he wrote his memoirs, Horses Don't Fly, which was published after his death on 9 January 1970.
Frederick Libby was born on 15 July 1891 in Sterling, Colorado. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was four years old, leaving him to be raised by his widower father, an older brother, and a live-in housekeeper. He attended local schools for his formal education, and began learning to ride at the age of six. One of his youthful feats was roping a pronghorn at the age of ten.
In the autumn of 1903, he moved to Sabetha, Kansas to temporarily live with his older sister Minnie. By 1904, Libby's father and elder brother had re-established themselves as horse brokers in Minco, Indian Territory; one of their clients was Buffalo Bill. Frederick Libby rejoined them in 1904. He then lived with his aunt in Marshfield, Massachusetts during the school year to attend high school during his fifteenth and sixteenth years. In 1910, Frederick Libby moved to Phoenix, Arizona because of his father's concern (which fortunately proved to be unfounded) that his son might have tuberculosis. The younger Libby first worked for wages as a cowboy while there. He then became an itinerant cowboy and mustanger.
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Wikipedia