Raynal Bolling
| Raynal Cawthorne Bolling | |
|---|---|
Bolling in 1918
|
|
| Born |
September 1, 1877 Hot Springs, Arkansas |
| Died | March 26, 1918 (aged 40) Estrées-Deniécourt, France |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 National Guard, New York Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
|
| Years of service | 1915-1918 |
| Rank |
 Colonel |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards |
Army Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Honour |
Raynal Cawthorne Bolling (September 1, 1877 – March 26, 1918) was the first high-ranking officer of the United States Army to be killed in combat in World War I. A corporate lawyer by vocation, he became an early Army aviator and the organizer of both of the first units in what ultimately became the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve Command.
Sent to France to lay a foundation for the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force as head of what became known as the "Bolling Mission," he remained in France instead of returning to the United States, served briefly in a number of staff positions and was selected for a future combat command. He was touring his future area of operations to learn the nature of the work he would be expected to perform when he was killed in action by German troops during the opening days of the 1918 spring offensive. He was the namesake of Bolling Air Force Base.
Bolling was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, but from 1911 he was a resident of Greenwich, Connecticut. In 1912, he commissioned the architects Carrère and Hastings to build him a mansion, called Greyledge, on Doubling Road. The estate was razed in 2007 by its current owner despite a public outcry. He attended the Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, graduating in 1896. He graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1900 and from the Harvard Law School in 1902.
Bolling was an attorney at Guthrie, Cravath, and Henderson. A little after a year there he began his career in the legal department of the United States Steel Corporation. By 1907 he was assistant general solicitor and married Anna Tucker Phillips, June 25, 1907 in Beverly, Massachusetts. She was the sister of William Phillips, a prominent career diplomat. He also joined the New York National Guard. He and his wife had four daughters and a son, one of whom, Cecelia Raynal Bolling, died in infancy. In 1913 he was named general counsel of US Steel at the age of 36.
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