For his part, McConnell always knew that representing America as an active combat pilot remained an important part of serving the interests of France. His plane sported the symbol of UVA’s Hot Foot Society, and he wrote more articles about his experiences in popular magazines, which were eventually collected into a book.1 After a few months of flying, McConnell seriously injured his back after a bad landing in August. He only flew one more mission before the end of the year, spending much of his time crafting articles and urging the U.S. government to support France.2 His injuries continued to plague him into the next year, affecting his ability to scan the sky for enemy aircraft, which could make for difficult flying even as the Germans were retreating to the Hindenburg Line. “They used ground machine guns on us, however, for the first time in my experience. I could see the stream of luminous bullets going by me like water falling in the sunlight.”3 On March 19, 1917, his plane got separated from the two others on patrol over the Somme, and McConnell was shot down. His body was stripped of everything and left in the apple orchard where he crashed until discovered by French troops three days later. McConnell was the fourth of the initial American pilots to be killed and the last before America entered the war in April.4 Earlier, he had written, “Next to falling in flames a drop in a wrecked machine is the worst death an aviator can meet. I know of no sound more horrible than that made by an airplane crashing to earth.”5 However, McConnell had also said of another pilot that he did, “not think Prince minded going. He wanted to do his part before being killed, and he had more than done it.”6 In a letter left for his comrades, McConnell told them to only hold a ceremony if they felt the need for themselves.7