Charles Rudolph d´Olive

Name:

Charles "Charlie" Rudolph d´Olive

Country:

United States

Rank:

First Lieutenant

Service:

United States Air Service

Units:

93^rd Aero, 141^st Aero

Victories:

Born:

10 July 1896

Place of Birth:

Suggsville, Alabama, USA

Died:

20 July 1974

Place of Death:

Waterloo, Iowa, USA

Cemetery:

Vine Street Hill Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

The son of Rudolph and Lela Whisenhunt d'Olive, Charles Rudolph d'Olive entered the United States Signal Corps, Aviation Section, at Memphis, Tennessee on 28 April 1917. Following flight training in the United States and at Issoudun, France, he was assigned to the 93^rd Aero Squadron at Vaucouleurs on 22 August 1918. As the third highest scoring ace in the 93^rd Aero, d'Olive scored the squadron's first victory on the morning of 12 September 1918, shooting down a Fokker D.VII near Vieville-en-Haye. After scoring four more victories, he was reassigned to the 141^st Aero Squadron as a flight commander on 28 October 1918. Discharged from the service in February 1919, he married in 1939, had two children and became a corporate executive in Iowa. d'Olive was a member of the U.S. Fighter Aces Association. He died of cancer in 1974.

d'Olive rites set for Tuesday
Waterloo Courier - Sunday, July 21, 1974

Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Charles Rudolph d'Olive, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near St. Benoit, France, September 12, 1918, First Lieutenant D�Olive, in conjunction with another American pilot, engaged and fought five enemy planes. Outnumbered and fighting against tremendous odds, he shot down three enemy planes and outfought the entire enemy formation.

General Orders No. 123, W.D., 1918

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	12 Sep 1918	1020	93^rd	SPAD XIII (S4630)	Fokker D.VII	Vieville-en-Haye
2	13 Sep 1918	1700	93^rd	SPAD XIII (S4630)	Fokker D.VII ¹	Charey
3	13 Sep 1918	1700	93^rd	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII ¹	Charey
4	13 Sep 1918	1713	93^rd	SPAD XIII	Fokker D.VII	St. Beniot
5	18 Oct 1918	1520	93^rd	SPAD XIII (S7748)	Fokker D.VII ²	Landres

1	Shared with Lt George Furlow
2	Shared with Lt W F Goulding

Books

American Aces of World War 1: by Norman Franks, Harry Dempsey (Illustrator) / Paperback / Osprey Publishing (September 25, 2001)
Over the Front: by Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey / Hardcover / Grub Street the Basement (May 1992)

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