Ralph Ambrose O'Neill

Rafael Ambrose O'Neill was born in Durango, Durango, Mexico on 17 December 1896 to father Ralph Lawrence O'Neill, an Irish Catholic candidate for Senator in Arizona; and to a Spanish mother, Dolores (Avila) O'Neill, of Castilian lineage. He was raised in the United States and began a career with the mining industry where his father operated the newspaper for the border town of Nogales, Arizona. O'Neill entered the United States Air Service in August 1917. In March 1918, he was assigned to the 147th Aero Squadron, flying the Nieuport 28 and the SPAD S.XIII. From 2 July to 31 October 1918, teaming with such squadron mates as Kenneth Porter, James Meissner, Francis Simonds, and James Healy, he shot down five German airplanes. He was awarded a total of three of the army's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters along with the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) and the French Croix de Guerre with palm. O'Neill claimed to have made an additonal six unconfirmed victories for a total of eleven. He was the winner of the Tilton prize for becoming one of the first five American aviation aces of the World War I.[1]

After the war, with his fluency in Spanish, O'Neill was hired to be the South American representative for Boeing and the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company, affording him introductions to many heads of state.

In August 1920, he signed a five-year contract to build a functional Mexican Air Force and train Mexican pilots, as Mexico was undergoing numerous violent ideological uprisings and military coups. In 1923, he flew several combat missions against Adolfo de la Huerta's rebellion. With a gift of 17 new De Havilland DH-4B aircraft from America, O'Neill out-maneuvered the insurgents. Under his command, the Mexican Air Force achieved victory against overwhelming odds, where some 60% of the original Mexican army had been turned against the sitting government. A military dictatorship was averted. O'Neill was the first to prove the resilience of air superiority on a grand scale. Better flying techniques and new technology helped to swiftly crush the rebels in Veracruz and Jalisco. He left Mexico in December 1925 with the rank of Brigadier General. After a regime change, which placed an anti-catholic leader in power, O'Neill returned to the United States Army Air Reserve where he was promoted to the rank of Colonel.

O'Neill is widely considered to be one of the founders of civil aviation and was amongst the first to see the potential of building a vast international mail / leisure network. Most did not have confidence in the future of flight outside of war. O'Neill hoped to change the publics' mind. He constucted the majority of Latin America's first landing areas, which ran up the entire Atlantic seaboard. in 1929, O'Neill created his dream company, New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line, which operated the first airmail route from Argentina to Miami in a Sikorsky S-38. At 8,000 miles it was the worlds longest trans-continental travel service. The airline was to become the forerunner for both Pan American World Airways and Panair do Brasil. In his auto-biography, O'Neill describes the birth of the flying industry and his relationship with other notable friends such as Charles Lindbergh and the first use of the Consolidated Commodore luxury travel seaplanes. After a forced merger, over the right to acquisitioning United States government mail contracts and a power struggle with Juan_Trippe for control of the industry, O'Neill resumed a career in mining exploration. In 1932, his new venture, the Bol-inca Mining Corporation, opened up previously inaccessible gold deposits high in the Andes. The company was later nationalized by the Bolivian Government in the 1960s.

He retired to Atherton California, where he was laid to rest in 1980.

He is a member of the OX5 Aviation Pioneers Hall of Fame and the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame.[2][3][4]

• Distinguished Service Cross (DSC):

First citation:

For extraordinary heroism in action near Château Thierry, France, 2 July 1918, Lt. O'Neill and four other pilots attacked twelve enemy battle planes. In a battle within the enemy's lines, they brought down three German planes, one of which was credited to Lt. O'Neill.

Second citation:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Ralph Ambrose O'Neill, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Chateau-Thierry, France: On July 5, 1918, First Lieutenant O'Neill led three other pilots in battle against eight German pursuit planes near Chateau-Thierry. He attacked the leader, opening fire at about 150 yards, and closing up to 30 yards range. After a quick and decisive fight the enemy aircraft fell in flames. He then turned on three other machines that were attacking him from the rear and brought one of them down. The other five enemy planes were driven away.

Third citation:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Ralph Ambrose O'Neill, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Fresnes, France, July 24, 1918: Lieutenant O'Neill, with four other pilots, engaged 12 enemy planes discovered hiding in the sun. Leading the way to an advantageous position by a series of bold and skillful maneuvers. Lieutenant O'Neill shot down the leader of the hostile formation. The other German planes then closed in on him, but he climbed to a position of vantage above them and returned to the fight and drove down another plane. In this encounter he not only defeated his opponents in spite of overwhelming odds against him, but also enabled the reconnaissance plane to carry on its work unmolested.

• Croix de Guerre

Fierce combat pilot with unfailing courage. On July 5, 1918, he destroyed two enemy planes. On July 2, he attacked with his patrol a formation of twelve enemy battle planes and officially shot one down. On July 24, he shot down a new adversary and put to flight a second after a fierce combat.

• List of World War I flying aces from the United States

• American Aces of World War I. Norman Franks, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84176-375-6, ISBN 978-1-84176-375-0.

• Ralph Ambrose O'Neill The Aerodrome Forum