Charles W. Plummer

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Charles W. Plummer
Born
Charles Warner Plummer

(1890-05-25)May 25, 1890
New Bedford, Massachusetts
DiedAugust 11, 1918(1918-08-11) (aged 28)
Marne, France
OccupationAviator

Charles Warner Plummer (1890–1918) was a military aviator in the U.S. Army Air Service. Plummer defended the 88th Aero Squadron's aerial reconnaissance mission to photograph the Vesle River sector of France during World War I.[1]

Early life, education, and military enlistment[edit]

Plummer was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts on May 25, 1890 to Henry and Alice Plummer, and he grew up on the farms of Potomska, a village near Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Plummer attended the Powder Point School and then public schools in Sharon, Massachusetts. He graduated from the Morristown School (now Morristown-Beard School) in Morristown, New Jersey in 1910. Plummer then received his bachelor's degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1914.[2] He briefly worked for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company before enlisting with Battery A of the 101st Field Artillery Regiment in Massachusetts of the American Expeditionary Forces.

Military service and recognition[edit]

On August 11, 1918, Plummer helped drive off more than a dozen biplanes of the German Air Force before five German airplanes shot down his plane near Fismes.[3] These actions helped Plummer's squadron capture 30 critical photographs of German enforcements[4] and earned him the Distinguished Service Cross, the American military's second highest honor.[5] General John J. Pershing awarded Plummer the medal in the name of President Woodrow Wilson in October 1918.[6] In an earlier mission, Plummer received France's Croix de Guerre for defending aviators from his squadron despite receiving 30 bullets in his own airplane. He also received a medal from the Aero Club of America that recognized his aviation achievements.[7]

Plummer and his pilot received burial on a knoll overlooking a valley in Chierry, France. The grave carries a marking of a propeller blade, customary for many aviators killed in World War I.[8] Honoring his son and brother, Henry Plummer named a bridge in Dartmouth, Massachusetts the Plummer Memorial Bridge.[9] Spanning the Little River, the bridge connects Little River Road with Potomska Road.[10]

Social activities and polo[edit]

Plummer joined Delta Kappa Epsilon, a fraternity, during his days at Harvard, and he played polo. The book Polo in the United States: A History identified Plummer as one of two notable polo players killed in action during World War I: "American polo players were also killed in the conflict, most notably Maj. Augustus Peabody Gardner, a polo player from Myopia Hunt Club, and Charles W. Plummer, 88th Aero Squad, a Harvard graduate shot down in his plane over the Vesle River in August 1918."[11] After Plummer's death, James F. Clark, a former 101st captain, gave a cup in his honor to Boston's Indoor Polo League. (Clark was a starter for a local polo team.)[12] The winner of the league's annual championship received the Plummer Memorial Cup as its prize.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Mead, Frederick Sumner (1921). Harvard's Military Record in the World War. p. 763.
  2. ^ Harvard University, ed. (1921). Secretary's Report, Harvard College (1780-) Class of 1914.
  3. ^ New England Aviators 1914–1918. Vol. 1. Houghton Mifflin. 1919. pp. 191–192. Retrieved July 26, 2020 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Harvard University, ed. (1918). Harvard Alumni Bulletin, Volume 21.
  5. ^ "Valor Awards for Charles W. Plummer". Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  6. ^ "American Heroes". The Altoona Tribune. October 31, 1918.
  7. ^ Harvard University, ed. (1920). Harvard College Class of 1914: Third Report.
  8. ^ Caroline Ticknor, ed. (1919). "Plummer, Charles W. Second Lieutenant". New England Aviators 1914-1918: Their Portraits and Their Records, Volume 1. pp. 191–193.
  9. ^ "Historical Lecture on Plummer Family Is Aug. 10". South Coast Today. August 1, 2014.
  10. ^ "Plummer Memorial Bridge".
  11. ^ Laffaye, Horace A. (2011). "Individual Handicaps and the Major Polo Tournaments". Polo in the United States: A History. p. 59.
  12. ^ Cavalry School, U.S. Army (1926). "Indoor Polo in Boston". The Rasp: The Cavalry School Annual. p. 184.
  13. ^ "Crimson Polo Trio Wins Class A Championship; Defeats Battery A to Gain Plummer Trophy Permanently – F. A. Clark '29 Stars for Losers". The Harvard Crimson. March 5, 1931.
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