Decisive Point

The utter brutality of World War I has amazed me, especially after walking the Verdun battlefield while stationed in Germany. There is no doubt that the aftershocks of World War I echo today. I wanted to write about that relevance but found that there was a wealth of articles and books already on this subject. While searching for a topic related to the United States' aeronautical unpreparedness for the war, I came across the Goodier court-martial. I have studied military history, and felt I knew the significant events of the era, especially with respect to aviation history. However, I had never heard of Goodier. A quick poll of my mates at ACSC reaffirmed that this story was off the beaten path. It fascinated me, and a few hours in the Air Force Historical Research Agency led me to some very passionate memoirs from the early aviators on this topic

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