Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army Capt. Edward W. Rucker, Jr., photographed after the war wearing his uniform....... read more read more
The home of Army Aviation will be officially redesignated Fort Rucker on Thursday, July 17. The change, ordered on June 11 by the Secretary of the Army, honors U.S. Army Capt. Edward Walter Rucker Jr., who was a pioneering Army Aviator and distinguished combat pilot from World War I.
Although the majority of Rucker’s military records were lost in the 1973 National Archives fire in St. Louis, Missouri, original newspaper records were passed down in the Rucker family, which highlighted much of Rucker’s military experience, including printed letters to his family, interviews with the press, and biographical data. Also included in the collection were original orders and letters from Rucker’s time in the service.
Rucker was born March 20, 1894, in Bosworth, Mo. Not much is known about his youth, but he attended college and then immediately pursued a career in education. From 1914 to 1916, he served as principal of the high school in Lebanon, Mo., and subsequently became superintendent of schools in Platte City. According to the Rucker family, he was the youngest school superintendent in the history of public education in the state of Missouri to that point in time.
He was teaching at University City High School when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps during World War I.
His service began in the National Guard. He first enlisted in the Missouri National Guard on December 31, 1915. From there, he went on to serve at the Mexican-American border from July 1916 to February 1917.
In May 1917, he entered an officers’ training camp where he was given a “provisional second lieutenancy in the Artillery Corps of the Regular Army.” Rucker turned down the position, however, as he was also given an opportunity to go to flight school.
Rucker traveled to Toronto and attended Ground School there, flying in and around Toronto until November 4, 1917.
In a letter dated October 19, 1917, Rucker outlined some of his training in Toronto to his parents.
I’m in the 79th squadron now. My tests in that will involve in twenty-five hours of flying, a cross-country flight
past Toronto, carrying a message, and return, doing four figure eights at 3,000 feet, cutting off the motor and
stopping twice in succession with the machine in a fifty-foot circle on the ground, staying 8,000 feet fifteen
minutes, cutting off the motor and touching the ground first in a certain fifty-foot circle, also usually looping
the loop and doing tail stalls.Then I go to the 78th squadron for bombing and photographing; then to the aerial gunnery. The aerial gunnery school goes to Texas October 28th, and the rest follows later, or probably immediately, since they don’t expect much more decent weather in this region.
Rucker did go on to Fort Worth, Texas, as outlined in his letter, as a member of the Reserve Flying Corps. He left Texas in January 1918 to go overseas and was promoted to first lieutenant on January 12, 1918. There, he was deployed with the 27th Aero Squadron.
On June 2, 1918, the 27th Aero Squadron officially entered combat.
Although no existing records could verify the following information, his grandson, Edward W. Rucker IV, has highlighted that his grandfather himself stated that he was the second U.S. pilot to fly into German Airspace. This was something that was personally important to Rucker and placed him beyond the front lines.
Rucker’s most famous feat occurred on June 13, 1918.
Near Lunéville, France, Rucker and three fellow pilots engaged 12-15 enemy aircraft that had attacked three American reconnaissance planes. Rucker, himself, engaged in single-handed combat with four enemy combatants.
The citation from his commanding officer, Maj. H.E. Hartney, when recommending Rucker for his award, read as follows:
By devotion to duty, courage and skill, coupled with perfect discipline in the carrying out of pre-arranged
plans, these officers, although outnumbered and handicapped in that they were so far inside enemy territory,
succeeded shooting down three enemy machines out of control and driving off the whole of the remaining
formation, thus enabling the reconnaissance machines to return safely across their lines with valuable
information and photographs.Rucker’s abilities during this engagement earned him the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest military decoration for exceptional heroism in combat, reserved for those whose acts of bravery and self-sacrifice set them apart from their peers, often involving extraordinary risk.
He also went on to earn the French Croix de Guerre with a palm leaf for his extraordinary valor and contributions. Established in April 1915, the award honors soldiers for remarkable feats of bravery. Rucker’s receipt of the award highlights his significant contributions alongside French forces on the Western Front.
Aviation was no different in the ever-changing tactical environment of World War I. Rucker seemed to sense this shift in mentality and mused in a letter to his parents shortly after his first engagement, “Don’t expect wonders; the day of the ‘aces’ is over, tactics have changed.”
Only a few short months later, Rucker was made a flight commander and was promoted to Captain on November 1, 1918. Only 10 days later, the war would come to an end on 11 November 1918.
Not long after the armistice was signed, Rucker was detached from the unit and sent back to the States. From there, he had to make the decision to continue in the military or return to civilian work.
Not much is said about the specifics of his life after the war, other than a few key notes.
The first was that he began working in a bond and securities business in St. Louis.
The second, in March 1920, he received an appointment to the Air Service Reserve Corps as a Major but turned down the offer – ostensibly to focus on his civilian career.
And, lastly, in June 1920, he married Mabel Elmore of Oneonta, New York, with whom he had two children: Ann Rucker and Edward Walter Rucker III. Together they moved to New York, living first in Oneonta and later in Buffalo. In Oneonta, he served as a senior executive in the Elmore Milling Company, providing and transporting grain and feed to feed stores and grain elevators in five states throughout the Northeast.
Rucker spent the last two years of his life in Fayette with his sister, Harriet Rucker. He passed on March 27, 1945, at the age of 51 at Lee Hospital in Missouri, “after a lingering illness which had extended over a long period of years.”
The legacy of Rucker’s unit, the 27th Aero Squadron, persists to this day as the 27th Fighter Squadron (FS) “Fightin’ Eagles.” They are assigned to the 1st Fighter Wing (FW) at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE), Hampton, Virginia, and fly the F-22 Raptor.
| Date Taken: | 07.15.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.15.2025 13:58 |
| Story ID: | 542827 |
| Location: | FORT RUCKER, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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