Early Life and Service
Raoul Lufbery was born in Chamalières, Puy-de-Dôme, France to American Edward Lufbery and a French mother. Lufbery's father was an American chemist working for a Parisian chocolate company and Raoul was his third son by his French wife. When Lufbery was one, his mother died and his father returned to America, leaving him to be raised by his grandmother in France. Lufbery ran away from his grandparent's home at 17, and travelled to such places as Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, the Balkans, and Turkey. Lufbery served in the United States Army from 1907–1909 and saw service in the Philippines. After his time with the US Army, he saw India, Japan, and China. In 1912, Lufbery traveled to French Indochina, where he took a job as a mechanic for French aviation pioneer Marc Pourpe. When war broke out in France, Pourpe joined the French Air Force (Aéronautique Militaire) as a pilot. Meanwhile, Lufbery joined the Foreign Legion and later transferred into the Aéronautique Militaire as a mechanic. Pourpe's death in a crash ignited Lufbery's desire for revenge and he applied for pilot's training.
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