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to an advantageous position by a series of bold and skillful maneuvers. Lieutenant O'Neill shot down the leader of the hostile formation. The other German planes then closed in on him, but he climbed to a position of vantage above them and returned to the fight and drove down another plane. In this encounter he not only defeated his opponents in spite of overwhelming odds against him, but also enabled the reconnaissance plane to carry on its work unmolested.
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382:(O'Brien). The irony being that De La Huerta had been the one who hired and first equipped O'Neill; De La Huerta was soon to be the architect of his own demise. Under O'Neill's command, the Mexican Air Force achieved victory against overwhelming odds, where some 60% of the original Mexican army had been enticed to turn against the sitting government. After securing 17 new
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445:. He constructed the majority of Latin America's first landing areas, which ran up the entire Atlantic seaboard. At 8,000 miles it was the world's longest trans-continental travel service. In his autobiography, "A Dream of Eagles", O'Neill describes the birth of the flying industry and his relationship with other notable friends such as
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Chateau-Thierry. He attacked the leader, opening fire at about 150 yards, and closing up to 30 yards range. After a quick and decisive fight the enemy aircraft fell in flames. He then turned on three other machines that were attacking him from the rear and brought one of them down. The other five enemy planes were driven away.
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The
Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Ralph Ambrose O'Neill, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Fresnes, France, July 24, 1918: Lieutenant O'Neill, with four other pilots, engaged 12 enemy planes discovered hiding in the sun. Leading the way
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During WWII O'Neill started a
Metalcraft Company to troubleshoot issues encountered with war material in the field. After patenting various inventions and donating others to the war effort, a major breakthrough was made in the creation of an exhaust manifold for battle tanks which contributed to the
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were considered antiquated, wrecked, or beyond repair. The branch consisted of 27 pilots, only 4 possessing over 40 hours of flight time, and 17 of which were new cadets. With the current arsenal underwhelming and obsolete, O'Neill began to acquire air-cooled engines and new aircraft such as French
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O'Neill is widely considered to be one of the founders of civil aviation and was one of the few to see the potential of building a vast international mail and leisure network. Most did not have confidence in the future of flight outside of war. O'Neill aimed to change the public's mind. In 1929,
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twin-engine night bombers were purchased. According to the
Secretary of War, in August 1920 the entire inventory consisted of only 13 aircraft. Nine were ill-equipped, mixed and matched engine, nationally-constructed biplanes. These were broadly considered still to be prototypes not suitable for
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The
Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Ralph Ambrose O'Neill, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Chateau-Thierry, France: On July 5, 1918, First Lieutenant O'Neill led three other pilots in battle against eight German pursuit planes near
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Fierce combat pilot with unfailing courage. On July 5, 1918, he destroyed two enemy planes. On July 2, he attacked with his patrol a formation of twelve enemy battle planes and officially shot one down. On July 24, he shot down a new adversary and put to flight a second after fierce combat.
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aircraft from
America, O'Neill's patriots easily out-maneuvered the insurgents. On January 29, 1924, at Esperanza station, the tide of the war changed in favor of the loyalists thanks to better-organized ground and air co-operation along with new formations of synchronized aerial
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For extraordinary heroism in action near Château
Thierry, France, 2 July 1918, Lt. O'Neill and four other pilots attacked twelve enemy planes. In a battle within the enemy's lines, they brought down three German planes, one of which was credited to Lt.
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A real character amongst his squadron, O'Neill was given the nickname "The Snake" for his unorthodox flying techniques, and fierce aggression in seemingly unfavorable odds. He was amongst the first combat pilots to paint the now-infamous "Sharks Teeth"
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candidate for
Senator in Arizona; and to a Mexican mother, Dolores (Avila) O'Neill, of Castilian lineage. He was raised in the United States and began a career in the mining industry where his father operated the newspaper for the border town of
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was absorbed. This was a sore point of contention with O'Neill who felt cheated of having laid the groundwork for an entire industry. O'Neill described the entire politically motivated affair as "a shotgun wedding after a damnable rape."
359:"Jefe Rodolfo" as he was then known, would present himself to manufacturers and foreign leaders under made-up titles such as "Major-General" in order to garner prominence and legitimacy. He was the first to introduce the term "
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with palm. O'Neill claimed to have made an additional six unconfirmed victories for a total of eleven. He was the winner of the Tilton prize for becoming one of the first five
American aviation aces of World War I.
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His South
American contacts and prowess as a diplomat allowed O'Neill to resume a career in mining exploration. In 1932, his new aerial venture, the Bol-inca Mining Corporation, opened up previously inaccessible
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and De La Huerta Fled the country. O'Neill became the first to prove the resilience of air superiority on a truly grand scale. On
December 19, 1924, O'Neill was promoted to the now official rank of
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A military dictatorship had clearly been averted, but this was not the end of the country's woes. Many influential political and military commanders were executed by Obregón after the failed
429:, almost starting a war with America. In the ensuing turmoil, O'Neill left Mexico in December 1925 and returned to the United States Army Air Reserve where he was reinstated to the rank of
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in order to strike fear into the enemy. After gaining notoriety, he was also said to go into battle sitting on a large frying pan, which subsequently saved his life from machine gunfire.
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and Frenchman Joe Ben Lievre, using the first intercom, basically a hose and funnel to communicate in an open cockpit, known as the "Gosport System", invented by
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His autobiography book, entitled "A Dream of Eagles," was published in 1973. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; 1st edition (January 1, 1973).
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413:. Since Obregón could not run for reelection, the power vacuum was filled by an anti-catholic regime. The new Mexican president
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from World War I credited with 103 combat patrols and five aerial victories. He was the first "Chief" Commander of the modern
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model K and J for the flight school. These would later be copied and produced in Mexico under the name Avro Anáhuac.
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938:. Air & Space Power Journal . Archived from the original on January 7, 2010 . Retrieved November 17, 2008 .
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killing 100,000. Soon, state control was exerted over all public broadcasts. In addition, Calles rejected the
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After the war, with his fluency in Spanish, O'Neill was hired to be the South American representative for
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concerted battle. Four more were monoplane scouts, five other planes were in repair and the rest at the
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The 147th Aero Squadron in World War I: A Training and Combat History of the 'Who Said Rats' Squadron.
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He is a member of the OX5 Aviation Pioneers Hall of Fame and the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame.
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In 1923, O'Neill flew several decisive combat missions against ex-president
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victory of the Americans and British in the desert war against Rommel.
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Aircraft Company, affording him introductions to many heads of state.
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Jack Stokes Ballard, James John Parks. Schiffer Publishing, 2013.
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Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
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Lt TJ Abernathy, Lt James Healy, Lt AH Jones, Lt CP Porter
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Lt TJ Abernathy, Lt James Healy, Lt AH Jones, Lt CP Porter
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who had started an armed rebellion with sitting president
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Ralph A. O'Neill, Joseph F Hood, Houghton Mifflin. 1973.
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Ralph ONeills Magic Carpet. The Once and Future Commodore
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on 17 December 1896 to father Ralph Lawrence O'Neill, an
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Norman Franks, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2001.
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List of World War I flying aces from the United States
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279:James Healy
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745:NYRBA logo
222:flying ace
90:Allegiance
57:1896-12-07
781:panam.org
684:Rumpler C
596:Location
590:Aircraft
455:seaplanes
232:Biography
199:with two
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488:Bolivian
396:Veracruz
389:strafing
354:Avro 504
311:and the
300:Nose art
261:and the
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