The Aviator

Jim McConnell was one of the first Americans to serve with the French during WWI, first as an ambulance driver and then as a pilot. On the University of Virginia campus, one can find a winged, twelve-foot-tall bronze statue titled The Aviator. Curiously, The Aviator is a memorial to UVA dropout, James Rogers McConnell. McConnell was a fighter pilot in the famous squadron of American volunteers who fought for the French prior to US entry into World War I, the Lafayette Escadrille. Prior to joining the escadrille, McConnell served in France as an ambulance driver. He documented the front, both on the ground and in the air in Flying for France, a bestselling book published just before his death. A modest character, Jim included very little information about himself in his book. Even while at the front, McConnell remained in regular correspondence with his family, friends, and girlfriends. A large volume of these original letters are preserved today. Author Steven T. Tom has sifted through a mountain of primary source material to go beyond Flying for France and tell the full story of the brief but famous life of Jim McConnell.