Editing Eddie Rickenbacker (section)

=== Early aerial combat ===

[[File:Bombers of WW1.ogg|thumb|right|Film footage of Rickenbacker on a bombing run over German lines]]

Rickenbacker's first [[sortie]] was with [[Reed McKinley Chambers|Reed Chambers]] on April 13, 1918. It almost ended in disaster when both became lost in the fog and Chambers was forced to land. Flight commander David Peterson called Rickenbacker a "bloody fool for flying off in a fog".<ref>Frandsen, Bert. ''Hat in the Ring: The Birth of American Air Power in the Great War''. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 2003, p. 89.</ref> Two weeks later, on April 29, Rickenbacker shot down his first enemy plane. On May 28, he claimed his fifth victory and became an [[Flying ace|ace]]. Rickenbacker received the French [[Croix de Guerre]] that month.<ref name=":24">Rickenbacker, Eddie (1919). ''Fighting the Flying Circus''. Frederick A Stokes Company. p. 44. – via Google Books.</ref> However, Rickenbacker was not perfect: he almost fired on friendly planes several times, his gun jammed, and he nearly crashed when his Nieuport's fabric wing tore off in a dive.

On May 30, 1918, he achieved his sixth victory, but it would be his last for three and a half months. In late June, he had a fever and ear infection that turned into an abscess and grounded him most of the [[Battle of Château-Thierry (1918)|Chateau Thierry campaign]].<ref name=":19">{{Cite web |date=2022-05-29 |title=This is how Eddie Rickenbacker earned 7 service crosses and the Medal of Honor |url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/this-is-how-eddie-rickenbacker-earned-7-service-crosses-and-the-medal-of-honor/ |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=We Are The Mighty |language=en-US}}</ref> While recovering in a Paris hospital in July, Rickenbacker reflected on his shortcomings as a pilot, deciding he needed more self-discipline and less impetuosity.<ref>Rickenbacker, Edward V. ''Fighting the Flying Circus''. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1919, p. 132.</ref>

Rickenbacker was out of the hospital in time for the [[Battle of Saint-Mihiel|St. Mihiel offensive]] based out of [[Rembercourt Aerodrome]] on September 12, 1918. By this time, the 94th and the other squadrons of the 1st Pursuit had converted from their agile but temperamental Nieuport airplanes to the more rugged, higher-powered [[Spad S.XIII|Spad XIII]]. The Spad was a good fit for Rickenbacker's style of attack.<ref>Lewis, W. David. ''Eddie Rickenbacker: An American Hero in the Twentieth Century,'' Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2005. pp. 189.</ref> He made another kill on September 14 against a [[Fokker D.VII|Fokker D-VII]], and another the day after that. Although Rickenbacker's performance was rising, the 94th squadron's was still disappointing. After a sluggish summer at Chateau Thierry, [[Harold Evans Hartney|Major Harold Hartney]] wanted new leadership to lead the Hat-in-the-Ring Gang to its former greatness. He chose Lieutenant Rickenbacker over several captains as the new commander of the [[94th Fighter Squadron|94th Squadron]].