Capt. Phelps Collins of Alpena, Mich., becomes the first member of the Air Service to lose his life on a combat mission. Collins, a pilot with the 103rd Aero Squadron, was on a combat patrol near Paris, when for some unknown reason, his SPAD XIII crashed to Earth in a high speed dive from high altitude.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
