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The Event that fueled the war
The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie occurred while they were visiting Sarajevo. And they were executed by a Sebian-backed terrorist. -
Revenge for Franz Ferdinand
Austria-Hungary wanted to send a message because of the assassinations so they Declared war on Serbia with the help and encouragement of Germany -
Aerial observation Graduation
Ronald and his friend whom he volunteered with both happened to be the first graduating class of aerial observation. Becoming the first 25 in American history. -
The start of his new career
Ronald was tired of the Frenchmen not speaking English him not being able to speak French including the instructors constantly coming through interpreting. But one day his bunking buddy told him there were 14 calls for aerial observers and asked if he wanted to volunteer with him. Ronald then opened his eyes to aircraft, resulting in him and his friend volunteering and collecting the last 2 spots. -
Battle of Verdun
The battle of Verdun lasted nearly a year as the French Army fended off a German surprise offensive with a total of 600,00 casualties and 300,00 deaths. Germany attacked the fort of Verdun along the Meuse River Banks. -
Battle of Somme
British forces were gunned down in the attempt to overrun German trenches resulting in the deaths of 20,000 soldiers. They soon changed tactics during defense against Germany on the Western fronts along the Somme River in France. -
America entering WW1
During a special joint session of Congress, Wilson went before them and asked for a declaration of war against Germany. On April 4th the senate voted 82 to 6 to declare war. On April 6th, such House of Representatives voted 373 to 50 in favor of adopting a war against Germany. And with that America entered WW1 -
Ronald's Distinguished Service Cross
Several machine gun bullets struck on August 17th, 1918 Lieutenant Llewellyn and Lieutenant Nell‘s airplane. One specific bullet cut the rudder and elevator control wires which caused the rudder to jam. Nell controlled the broken wire under the direction of Llewellyn. They ran it together until the plane became unmanageable despite the damage they brought it back to their airdrome. He was shortly granted the Distinguished Service cross for his bravery and perseverance. -
The loss of Joseph Nell
Ronald’s older brother Joseph who was a young Macon lieutenant was killed by being struck in the head. That injury occurred as he was going over the top of enemy lines while leading his men in the St. Mihiel drive during the French invasion in World War 1. -
Armistice
Germany and its allies were slowly becoming exhausted and defeated in the war. The German government looked to the United States with the request of an armistice. At 5 am on November 11th, an armistice was agreed upon. The hostilities were to be stopped on the entire front at the start of 11 am. -
Ronald's Rejection
They called Ronald and asked for his help as a former aviator to come to Montgomery Alabama. He tried to go back to flying at least 3 times but they found out he had an eye defect so they wouldn't allow him to come back.