A story of the young Americans who volunteered to be part of the French military prior to the United States involvement in WWI, also known as Lafayette Escadrille, and how they became the country's first fighter pilots.

A low-born infantryman becomes a pilot during World War I, almost deliberately stepping on the sensibilities of his aristocratic comrades in the process. A national hero, he wins the Blue Max, the highest award that can be bestowed upon an aviator. His fame is exploited by a general, who tolerates the affair between the pilot and the general's wife. The canny general knows that, eventually, the pilot will become expendable, and a "heroic" death can...