But before I start, I have to warn you that there are a few spoilers here, so if you like to be spoiled free until the movie comes out in October, maybe you should consider stop reading at this time, LOL.
So you decided to read on, LOL. First the easy character, LOL! Jean Reno plays the squadron’s commander, a Frenchman named Captain Georges Thenault. This is actually the only name that has been kept unchanged. The rest of the characters' names have been changed and so it makes it fun to try to guess who is who.
The seven American pilots, who were the founding members of the Escadrille Americaine, were Norman Prince, Victor Chapman, Kiffin Rockwell, James McConnell, William Thaw, Elliot Cowdin, and Bert Hall. The eight member who joined them about a month later was Raoul Lufbery.
At first I concluded that MH's character is either Norman Prince or William Thaw, since they were the ones that pushed for an American squadron to be formed in the first place and had training as pilots in the US before going to France.
When I read on the official site of the "Flyboys" that Reed Cassidy, MH's character, was the sole survivor of his group, I checked the original squadron's date of service which is as follows:
and so I thought Cassidy could be based on James Mcconnell, William Thaw, or Raoul Lufbery.
Mcconnell plane crashed in August of 1916 and he hurt his back. But he did not want to leave his duty and protested that "Not being able to walk does not prevent my flying.", to which Captain Thenault orders to him was, "Jimmy, go to bed." It seems that after his accident Mcconnell was not able to be the fighter pilot that he was before his accident. So I guess Cassidy is not him!
Next is Thaw, who was one of my original guesses, seems to be a good guess, LOL. Since Thaw was the first person that called for the formation of the squadron; Prince's suggestion came about a month after Thaw's. Also Thaw was promoted to full Lieutenant on 22 May 1916, two days before he was wounded in combat and soon after became the American commander of the squadron under Thenault. Thus, so far so good, right, LOL.
Edwin Parsons, Thaw's colleague, describes him as "Most of the time he was in practical, if not nominal, command and handled with unfailing tact and good humor one of the toughest jobs ever thrown on the shoulders of one man. It is reasonable to suppose, since he seemed to be doing all right before there was any such thing, that he could have gotten along without the Escadrille. But most certainly the Escadrille could never have gotten along without Bill. Many times he must have been seething inside, but he never showed it. He made a brilliant success of a job where most men would have gone mad."
Parson also writes this about Thaw, "If there was any drinking or gambling, he wanted to be in on it. If there wasn't anything doing, he started something. He didn't care where you went or what you did or how much you drank, just so you could show up for patrols and at least make a pretense of getting into the air."
So do you think Cassidy could be based on Thaw? The only thing that is going against Thaw being the inspiration for the Cassidy character is that Thaw was 23 in 1916, Cassidy looks older.
So let's move on to Lufbery, who was 31 years old in 1916. Thenault thought Lufbery's flying skills were excellent and made sure that he was placed above the squadron's patrols to "dominate the situation." It is stated that to Thenault, Lufbery was a "superman" who had to be ordered to rest. Thenault believed that "To fly high is very fatiguing, as the sudden changes of altitude quickly tire the heart. But never have I met a pilot with more endurance than Lufbery. When the sky was clear he would go up three or four times a day to eighteen thousand feet just for his own pleasure, in a dilettante fashion. Never was he at all ill from it."
Lufbery officially became an ace (a flying ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft.), the first American pilot to do so, on 12 October 1916. It is written that Lufbery was the Lafayette Escadrille's greatest fighter pilot, and perhaps the greatest American fighter pilot of World War One.
Hinkle, a colleague of Lufbery described his demeanor as, "He was a strange man. A solemn man. He was a very quiet man, not easy to know. He never talked very much. I remember taking long walks in the woods with him to gather mushrooms for the cooks. He might not say a word in two hours."
Henry Jones remembered Lufbery as, "he spoke with a strong French accent, a rough, tough person, but he would do anything for you. He was very well liked, and when he did go to Paris, he raised hell." From the previews it does not seem that Cassidy speaks with an accent!
Parsons summed Lufbery up this way. "To me, Luf was one of the greatest mysteries of the war. No man alive can truthfully say that he knew him. I ate, slept, drank and fought beside him for months on end. I discussed combat tactics and played bridge and went on binges with him. He saved my hide once when I was a very green young pilot. . . I was in daily contact with a figure of flesh and blood, but know him? Not a chance. In contrast to him, the Sphinx was a child's primer. He kept his real self shut up like a clam in a shell. He was a man seemingly devoid of fear or, in fact, emotion of any kind. But what a man he was in the air! He had forgotten more about combat flying than most men ever knew."
On 5 March 1918 Lufbery than a Major served as combat instructor as he helped to prepare the novice pilots in the details of how to be a part of an squadron. On 28 March he led Lieutenants Douglas Campbell and Edward Rickenbacker on the 94th's first combat patrol.
I read here that the character Cassidy dies, however Lufbery actually not only saw the end of World War I, he also saw the World War II as well. But even with knowing that bit about Cassidy's story I am still convinced that Lufbery is a big part of the inspiration for the Cassidy character. First of all Lufbery was one of the original members of "Lafayette Escadrille", it is written that he was the best pilot in the squadron, he was the first one to become an ace, and in the first nine months of the formation of the squadron he saw five of his original comrades getting killed. Now if they show Cassidy as a loner and reclusive when on the ground, and having him speak French I am all sold that Cassidy is the fictionalized version of Lufbery, LOL.
I think the main reason writers decided to go with a different name is because they could not stay completely true to Lufbery's life story. Lufbery became an instructor not in 1916, but in 1918, after US entered the war. And he was instructor to an all American squadron, under the US flag, while the member's of "Lafayette Escadrille" fight under the French flag. And of course, Lufbery lived to see the end of the war.
Now assuming that Lufbery was an inspiration for Cassidy, then to pick a protege of Lufbery to be inspiration for Blaine Rawlings, James Franco's character, the best choice is probably Edward Rickenbacker who is stated to be "the ace of the aces". It is listed that Rickenbacker had 26 victories, the next closest to him is First Lieutenant Frank Luke with 18 victories and then Lufbery with 17. However, it is also written that Lufbery was not given all the credits that he was due for his victories. Probably in large part, due to Lufbery's motto, which was, "the enemy is destroyed, who cares about the rest". He was there to be a fighter pilot, to do his duty, not to be rewarded for how many enemy planes he had destroyed, nor was he there for the glory.
Apparently Rickenbacker was a thrill seeker, he craved speed, first he satisfied his cravings riding cars, and then he got interested in planes. He was a self made man. He fudged his age so that he could work as a child and earn money. Even though he was not the oldest, but after his father's death, he felt responsible for his mother and his siblings' well being. Rickenbacker truly had a fascinating life.
And one last thing, I was checking the list of flying aces of WWI and two names cut my eyes: Reed Chambers and Thomas Cassady (spells a bit differently, but I guess it is close enough, LOL), I wonder if this a coincidence, or the writers create the name "Reed Cassidy" in honor of these two flying aces.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette_Escadrille
http://perso.orange.fr/rdisa/html/Frames/lafayette.html
http://www.wwiaviation.com/aces/laffeyette_roster.shtml
http://www.homeofheroes.com/wings/part1/4_aceofaces.html
http://www.acepilots.com/wwi/us_rickenbacker.html