In northeastern France, a pilgrimage to Champagne country became a walk through World War I history and the enduring legacy of Arizona flying ace Frank Luke Jr.
Most travelers come to northeastern France for Champagne, cathedral towns and quiet villages that seem lifted from another century. I came for those things, too. But during a long walk across the region, I discovered another story written into the landscape — the story of Frank Luke Jr — Arizona’s daring World War I flying ace.
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Last summer, I spent nine days walking across northeastern France. I began near the Belgian border, followed country roads through vineyards and wheat fields and eventually reached Reims, the grand cathedral city at the heart of Champagne country. Later, I trained north and walked another pilgrimage route back to Reims.
Each morning, I walked beneath wide blue skies. The countryside was peaceful: church steeples, sleepy villages, fields of grain and vineyards heavy with promise. If you have ever enjoyed a glass of Champagne, this is where it comes from.
Yet as I walked, I realized I was not simply passing through wine country.
I was walking through history.
RELATED: Things to Do in Reims: Cathedral, Food + Champagne Tours from Reims
Walking Through the Battlefields of Northeastern France
The peaceful fields of northeastern France were once battlefields. The quiet forests once hid artillery. Nearly every village bears scars from the First World War. Along the way, I passed military cemeteries where thousands of young men — French, German, British, American — still rest.
What struck me most, though, was looking up.
The skies were brilliantly blue.
Those were the same skies where, more than a century ago, a twenty-one-year-old pilot from Phoenix, Arizona, fought some of the most daring air battles of World War I.
His name was Frank Luke Jr.
Most Arizonans know the name Frank Luke because Luke Air Force Base, west of Phoenix, was named in his honor. Every day, some of the finest fighter pilots in the world train at a base that bears the name of a young man who flew combat for only a few weeks.
Yet what extraordinary weeks they were.
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Who Was Frank Luke Jr.?
Frank Luke Jr. became known as the “Arizona Balloon Buster.” He specialized in attacking German observation balloons — some of the most dangerous targets of the war.
These were not ordinary balloons. Suspended beneath them were observers who directed German artillery fire onto Allied troops. As long as the balloons stayed in the air, German guns could fire with deadly accuracy. That made them among the most heavily defended targets on the battlefield.
To destroy one, Frank Luke had to fly directly into anti-aircraft fire, often with enemy fighters waiting nearby. He often flew alone, sometimes against orders, diving through smoke and shellfire to reach his target.
In only seventeen days of combat, Frank Luke Jr. was credited with nineteen aerial victories, making him America’s second-highest scoring ace of World War I, behind only Eddie Rickenbacker.
Then, on September 29, 1918 — just six weeks before the war ended — Frank Luke was shot down behind enemy lines. He never came home.
He was twenty-one years old.
Walking Beneath the Same Skies
As I walked beneath those same skies in France, I found myself wondering if Frank Luke had ever looked down at the villages I was walking through.
Did he notice the vineyards?
Did he see the church steeples?
Or was he too focused on surviving one more mission?
Those thoughts stayed with me all the way to Reims.
When I finally reached Reims Cathedral, I was not prepared for what I learned.
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Reims Cathedral: From Ruins to Restoration
Today, Reims Cathedral is one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe. Light spills through stained glass. Stone saints rise above the portals. Pilgrims, travelers and worshippers still step inside and look up.
But in 1914, Reims Cathedral became one of the great casualties of the First World War. German shells set the cathedral ablaze. Its roof collapsed. Its stained-glass windows shattered. Across the world, photographs of the burning cathedral became symbols of what modern war could destroy.
Many believed it could never be restored.
But one American thought differently.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. stepped forward to help rebuild it. The restoration began in 1919, only one year after Frank Luke Jr. was killed.
I have thought a lot about that.
One young American gave his life helping save France.
Another American devoted his fortune to helping rebuild France.
One fought to preserve freedom. The other helped restore beauty.
Together, they remind me that America’s greatness has never been measured only by military strength, but also by generosity, friendship and hope.
The Song That Connected My Family to France
After I returned home, I found one more unexpected connection.
For more than fifty years, my family had an old piece of sheet music from my grandmother’s piano bench. Like so many women of her generation, she kept favorite songs tucked away there.
The title was Good-Bye Broadway, Hello France.
It was one of the biggest songs in America in 1917 — the very year Frank Luke enlisted.
Before television and before radio became common in American homes, families gathered around the piano and sang together. Sheet music was how America shared its hopes, fears and patriotism. Songs like Good-Bye Broadway, Hello France helped prepare a nation for war and reminded families why their sons were sailing across the ocean.
This single piece of music has survived for more than a century. It outlived the war. It outlived my grandmother. Somehow, it made its way into my hands.
And now, when I look at it, I think of France. I think of Reims Cathedral. I think of those blue skies. And I think of Frank Luke Jr., the young Arizona pilot who never returned home.
Goodbye Broadway, Hello France Was One of the Most Popular Songs of 1917
While researching this story, I found this item in the December 13, 1918, issue of the “Out of Control” newspaper, published in the interest of the First Pursuit Group.
It was the same issue that announced Lieut. Luke of the 27th Squadron became “very proficient and performed the wonderful feat of shooting down fifteen balloons and three planes in seventeen days” on page 7.
Later, they reported that he was missing on September 29, 1918.
Why Frank Luke Still Matters
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Hi, I’m Stacey
UNSTOPPABLE Stacey Travel is a travel blog focused on immersive travel that highlights food, wine and the spirituality of place. You can count on me for accurate reports and insightful analysis as your trusted travel writer since 2008.
As the author of several spiritual and walking guides, I occasionally write about life as a Camino de Santiago pilgrim. See my Amazon author page here. You may review my credentials as a professional travel writer on LinkedIn.
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