Thompson, Stephen W. Papers
Lieut. Stephen Thompson served as an American pilot with the First Corps, First American Army. Lieut. Thompson, from West Plains, Mo. trained at Amanty, France as an observer before going to the front lines. On February 5, 1918, Thompson was flying with the French Breguet Day Bombardment Group No. 5 on a daytime air raid. As the planes received enemy fire, Thompson retaliated. Thompson retaliated with his machine gun. After several shots, Thompson became the first flyer in an American uniform to shoot down a German plane. This collection includes a letter in which Thompson described the historic flight.
