FLY BOYS


World War I gave us the fly-boys
Who flew by the seat of their pants.
Many would never return from war
While others survived by chance.

Their planes were mostly canvas and wood
Gasoline, bullets, bombs and poison gas.
Every pilot carried his own pistol
Wearing leathers, scarf and goggles of glass.

Aviators had no Parachutes
To escape their burning plane.
Many were forced to jump to their death
Or self inflect a bullet to the brain.

Blimps where known as battleships of the sky
The roar of their engines gave reason for fear.
They flew so high they were hard to shoot down
Hiding above clouds till their targets drew near.

Tracer bullets for the first time were used
In the guns of airplanes to set blimps a fire.
The skies became man’s highway of death
With duty and honor their driving desire.

How many Fly-boys have we lost since then
Those days of the Great War and more?
Where do we get such brave souls of chance
Who rise from the rest in the battles of war?

By Tom Zart

I've read that in 1914, planes were originally used for scouting only. Then French and German pilots started carrying sidearms and rifles to shoot at each other. Then things escalated.

That basically is true. But Tom Zart's poem is not entirely accurate. German pilots were issued parachutes the last year and a half of the war. Allied pilots were not.