This Arizona airport is a WWI memorial in disguise
Published: 25 November 2025
By Leo Heit
via the MSN website
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Ernest Love’s Fatal Solo Flight Over France
Ernest Love went from Prescott High football star to Stanford engineer to war hero in just a few short years. When America joined WWI in 1917, he left college to fly.
After training, Love joined the 147th Aero Squadron in France, flying 22 combat missions in just seven weeks. On September 15, 1918, he took off late, flew alone to meet his squadron, and met German fighters instead.
Shot down behind enemy lines, he died the next day at just 22. His hometown later named both its airport and American Legion post in his honor.
The bronze statue unveiled in 2024 at Prescott’s Ernest A. Love Field stands as a powerful tribute to this young Arizona aviator.
Ernest Love was born in New Mexico in 1895 and moved to Prescott when he was three. He quickly stood out as a top athlete, becoming an all-state football guard at Prescott High School.
His teachers and friends knew him as both a smart kid and great athlete who did well at everything. After finishing high school in 1914, Love looked for bigger challenges beyond his small Arizona town.
Ernest started at Stanford University in 1914 to study mechanical engineering. He did great in his tough classes while still playing sports.
As war spread across Europe, Love finished three years of college.
When America joined the fight in April 1917, he put his education on hold right away and signed up to serve his country.
Love asked for flight training right after joining up, along with fifteen other Stanford students sent to flight school. The training pushed them to their limits, testing both body and mind.
Out of his whole group, only Ernest made it through the tough aviation program, showing he had the rare mix of skills needed for the dangerous new world of air combat.
⇒ Read the entire article on the MSN website.
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