On July 14, 1918, World War I, Quentin Roosevelt, beloved youngest son of former president Teddy Roosevelt, was shot down in his plane and was killed by the Germans over the Marne River in France. Teddy Roosevelt believed strongly that America needed to enter the war. He campaigned unsuccessfully to be re-elected president and then volunteered to head a volunteer group of fighters in France. President Woodrow Wilson rejected the offer, and TR responded that his sons would go in his place. The three older Roosevelt sons were already on their way to the front, and Quentin, at age 20, volunteered for the U.S. Air Service where he served as a flight commander.
