Frederick Libby: America’s first WWI cowboy Ace

Shot down 9 planes as a gunner, 14 more as a pilot

Captain Libby was a cowboy in Colorado before the start of World War I. In 1914 he joined the Canadian Air Force and on his first day as a gunner on an observation airplane, he shot down a German fighter. He went on to shoot down eight more with his machine gun. He received the Victoria Cross and was trained as a pilot where he shot down a further 15 planes with his Sopwith Camel. He returned to the United States Air Force, where a medical condition forced him out of the service.

Captain Libby was the epitome of American toughness and bravery. Valor is in you. Set it free.