With the war in Ukraine dangerously close to involving neighboring
Poland, the specter is raised of the forgotten Polish-Soviet War of
1920. In that war, to Poland’s aid came American pilots, most
importantly World War I veteran Merian C. Cooper, who created the
Kościuszko Squadron and flew with great distinction in the battle
against the invading Russians. Most people today know Cooper only as the
man who made the movie King Kong.
Born in 1893 in Jacksonville, Florida, Cooper was the son of a
prominent attorney. The Cooper line went back to the colonial era in
Southeastern Georgia. Rising to prominence during the Revolutionary War
was John Cooper, Merian’s great-great grandfather, who served as a
colonel alongside Casimir Pulaski,
the Polish cavalry commander. After meeting with Ben Franklin in Paris
in 1776, Pulaski sailed to America and was soon reorganizing and
commanding the Continental Army’s cavalry regiments.
Though his imperious manner caused controversy, the aristocratic
Pulaski served with distinction in several battles both before and after
spending the winter of 1777–78 with George Washington at Valley Forge.
While leading a charge during the Battle of Savannah, in October 1779,
Pulaski was grievously wounded by British grapeshot. Col. John Cooper
carried Pulaski from the battlefield and, according to family lore, was
at Pulaski’s side when he died two days later. Pulaski became a hero to
Americans, including to Merian Cooper who was told stories as a young
boy of his great-great grandfather and the Polish general.
Cooper’s youthful imagination was also fired by the exploits of his great uncle, Merian R. Cooper, who joined the 2nd
Florida Infantry of the Confederate Army at the age of 16, fought
heroically, suffered several wounds, and was commissioned as a captain
at age 20.
Moreover, the young Cooper was a voracious reader of adventure tales, in particular, Paul Du Chaillu’s Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa,
a thrilling account of the author’s hunt for gorillas in the forests of
the uncharted Crystal Mountains. Du Chaillu’s description of two native
women being carried off by gorillas left a lasting impression on
Cooper. It wasn’t by accident that in 1933, Cooper co-wrote, directed,
and produced King Kong.
Thirty years prior, at the age of 10, Cooper’s thoughts of adventure
turned skyward when the Florida boy read of the Wright brothers’
12-second flight at Kitty Hawk. He vowed then that one day he’d fly
airplanes.
Upon graduating from the Lawrenceville prep school in New Jersey,
Cooper received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy. He
performed well academically and athletically, but he had trouble
controlling his wild nature and received demerits for disciplinary
infractions. His fondness for strong drink got him in the brig during
December 1914, and the academy began dismissal proceedings. Cooper was
only one semester shy of graduation, and he could have contested the
proceedings, but he felt that he had brought dishonor upon himself and
his family and that it was best for all if he left.
Too embarrassed to return home, Cooper sailed to Europe as a seaman
aboard a freighter. He thought of enlisting to fly for Britain or
France, but passport problems interfered. He returned to the United
States and worked at various jobs, including as a reporter for the Minneapolis Daily News and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
He stopped drinking entirely and excelled at his jobs, but he did begin
smoking a pipe. In a letter to his father, he said of his pipe, “He
soothes many, many a hatred and many a regret, and whenever I have
wanted a good stiff drink the old corncob has always stuck by me, and
taken the place of John Barleycorn.”
In 1916, Cooper joined the Georgia National Guard and quickly found
himself on the Mexican border with Gen. John “Black Jack” Pershing.
Cooper thought he’d soon be pursuing Pancho Villa deep inside Mexico,
but his duties were confined to patrolling the border. After several
months and only limited action, Cooper got orders to the Military
Aeronautics School in Atlanta.
After a year of rigorous training, Cooper graduated first in his
class of 150 cadets. The commandant of the school sent a telegram to
Washington recommending Cooper for service overseas, saying, “He is the
best man in every respect who has yet entered this school.”
Cooper was in France by October 1917 but was given several months of
further training before being assigned to the 20th Aero Squadron.
Injuries in a crash landing and months of heavy rains and fog delayed
Cooper’s first combat flights until September 1918 during the Battle of
Saint-Mihiel. He was flying the De Havilland DH-4 Liberty, a powerful
and fairly maneuverable plane, but when loaded with a pilot, a
bombardier, ordnance, and a full tank of gas, it was considerably slower
than the German Fokker D.VII. Moreover, the Liberty’s gas tank was
particularly vulnerable to enemy fire, which earned the plane the
sobriquet “flaming coffin.”
Cooper flew both bombing and reconnaissance missions. His luck held
until a bombing mission in late September during the Meuse-Argonne
Offensive. His flight was jumped sequentially by two groups of Fokkers.
Cooper maneuvered his plane brilliantly and he and his bombardier, Ed
Leonard, shot down three Fokkers before his own plane was riddled with
bullets and ablaze. Cooper would have bailed out, but Leonard was
wounded and only semi-conscious in the rear seat. With badly burned
hands and using only his elbows and knees to control the stick, Cooper
crash-landed the plane in a field. (Read more.)
