Graveyard Memorial: USA's First Air Ace
Morristown, Tennessee
Kiffen Rockwell either loved war, hated Germans, or possibly both. He was one of the first three Americans to enlist with the French forces after the start of World War I, years before America officially became involved. He eventually became a pilot, but only because he had been shot and wounded so many times that he feared the Army wouldn't put him back in combat.
Kiffen really blossomed in his new job, and became the first American pilot to shoot down an enemy plane in aerial combat in May 1916. He then went on to shoot down several more Germans and become America's first air "ace." He survived almost 150 dogfights (despite being wounded again) but his luck ran out on Sept. 23, 1916 -- three days after his 24th birthday -- when he was shot through the head by a German plane he was attacking (His plane reportedly crashed only a few feet from where his first German kill had crashed).
Kiffen Rockwell's connection to Morristown is that the rest of his family is buried there, so it seemed right that his pseudo-grave should be there, too, even though he's buried in France.