Lt Edmund Pike Graves graduated from Harvard University in 1913. He joined the Royal Flying Corps during World War I and underwent his pilot training in Canada. He deployed to England too late in the war to fly any combat missions. Disappointed, he heard about and decided to voluntarily join a small group of American pilots, the Kosciuszko Squadron, who committed to fly and fight for the Polish Army to resist the spread of Bolshevism. As the squadron was organizationally standing up at Lewandowska Aerodrome in Lwow, Poland (now L'viv, Ukraine), some of the pilots, including Lt Graves, took part in a civic celebration commemorating the first anniversary of the liberation of Lwow from Ukranian occupation. During his aerodynamic demonstration, Lt Graves' aircraft suffered wing structural damage and he crashed and was killed. Shortly thereafter, his military funeral procession progressed through Lwow to the Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwow.
[The sad history of this cemetery that ensued can be reviewed by web-searching "Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwow" (Wikipedia)]
[The sad history of this cemetery that ensued can be reviewed by web-searching "Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwow" (Wikipedia)]
Lt Edmund Pike Graves graduated from Harvard University in 1913. He joined the Royal Flying Corps during World War I and underwent his pilot training in Canada. He deployed to England too late in the war to fly any combat missions. Disappointed, he heard about and decided to voluntarily join a small group of American pilots, the Kosciuszko Squadron, who committed to fly and fight for the Polish Army to resist the spread of Bolshevism. As the squadron was organizationally standing up at Lewandowska Aerodrome in Lwow, Poland (now L'viv, Ukraine), some of the pilots, including Lt Graves, took part in a civic celebration commemorating the first anniversary of the liberation of Lwow from Ukranian occupation. During his aerodynamic demonstration, Lt Graves' aircraft suffered wing structural damage and he crashed and was killed. Shortly thereafter, his military funeral procession progressed through Lwow to the Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwow.
[The sad history of this cemetery that ensued can be reviewed by web-searching "Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwow" (Wikipedia)]
[The sad history of this cemetery that ensued can be reviewed by web-searching "Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwow" (Wikipedia)]
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