==What happened when the only son of an American president to fall in combat was killed
If I Die in a Combat Zone…==
CONUNDRUM CLUSTER. JAN 8, 2024.1/3
QUENTIN ROOSEVELT WAS THE YOUNGEST SON OF PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT, JUST 3 YEARS OLD WHEN HIS FATHER WAS ELECTED TO THE NATION’S HIGHEST OFFICE. HE HAD THE UNUSUAL DISTINCTION OF GROWING UP ALMOST ENTIRELY IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
The senior Roosevelt cast a larger-than-life figure, having overcome asthma at a young age through a vigorous exercise regime. After he conquered his illness, he embarked on a series of adventures—from becoming the youngest NYPD Commissioner in history to starting over as a cattle rancher out West—well into his middle age. He was certainly aware of his own reputation. He was also very media-savvy. Quentin, an intelligent and happy child, was often at the center of positive stories covering the Roosevelt family
Newspaper readers were captivated by the exploits of the mischievous Quentin and his friends, dubbed “The White House Gang.” He built a baseball diamond on the White House lawn and terrorized Secret Service agents with often dangerous building projects and experiments. The extent to which these things were staged for PR purposes is a bit up in the air, but it’s still fun to think about. Imagine a real-life Richie Rich. The public got to watch Quentin grow up.
World War I began when Quentin was attending Harvard University. Although the US was neutral at the start of the conflict, Theodore Roosevelt (no longer in the White House) organized a series of summer military training camps for businessmen and university students. When the US finally entered the war, these men were offered commissions as officers based their on performances. Eventually these summer training programs would be legally transformed by Congress into the modern ROTC program.
Quentin attended one of these camps and did well despite having to adapt considerably to military life. It was obvious that he was his father’s favorite child. The two looked very similar and were almost identical to each other in temperament. Quentin would often accompany his father on big game hunts.
Both Quentin and his father were angered by the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a German submarine. Although the ship was nominally a civilian passenger liner, it was secretly carrying millions of rounds of ammunition and artillery shells in its cargo hold. 128 American civilians, all just normal commercial passengers on the ship, died during the sinking.
The sinking of the Lusitania became a major focus of propaganda efforts to end America’s neutrality in the war. Information that the ship was surreptitiously carrying huge amounts of war material, giving weight to German claims that it was a legitimate military target, was carefully concealed from the public.
This incident and other anti-German propaganda narratives (which often involved fake claims of over-the-top atrocities committed against civilians in Belgium) primed the American public for entry into the war. After the Zimmerman telegram, proposing a (wildly unrealistic) alliance between German and Mexico for an attack on the United States, was intercepted by the British, direct US intervention became inevitable.
When war was declared, Quentin volunteered immediately. Because of his mechanical skills, he was drawn to the Army’s burgeoning Air Corps (the Air Force did not exist yet). The First World War saw the birth of combat aviation. Although Quentin knew how to fly, he initially served as his unit’s supply officer and helped supervise a training airfield in France. He was very popular among the men, despite his lofty background, and developed a reputation as an efficient and energetic officer.
Because combat aviation was so new, pilot training was rushed. The aircraft were very primitive. Technology that enhanced pilot survivability hadn’t even been invented yet. Airborne weapons were very inaccurate beyond 100 meters, if they worked at all. Aerial engagements, known as “dogfights,” happened exclusively at close range. They were fast and brutal, with extremely high casualties. The life expectancy for a new combat pilot during WWI was between 40 and 60 hours of flight time.
This was due in large part to the steep learning curve. While pilots from the earliest days of the conflict might have thousands of hours of non-combat flight training, new pilots had barely any experience before being thrown into the fray. The difference in quality between experienced and inexperienced fighter pilots was like night and day….
https://www.theconundrumcluster.com/p/what-happened-when-the-only-son-of