Near Carthage in Moore County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

James Rogers McConnell

Photographed by Forest McDermott, September 4, 2015

1. James Rogers McConnell Marker

Inscription. In January 1915 James Roger McConnell left Carthage, N.C. For N.Y. And sailed to France. He volunteered in the American Ambulance Service as an ambulance driver. He was awarded the much coveted Croix de Guerre for Bravery Under Fire. He later joined the French Flying Corps and was one of the world's first fighter pilots by the Fall of 1915. McConnell was the 4th of seven original founders of the world famous Lafayette Escadrille. (N 124), known as the “Darlings of the Air”. McConnell was shot down and killed by 2 German airplanes as he was pursuing another “Boche” plane on March 19th, 1917. He was the last of the group killed before the U.S. entered the war. He just had his 30th birthday a week before. His very good friend, Kiffin Rockwell from Asheville, N.C. Was also one of the founders and was killed before McConnell. McConnell wrote the book “Flying for France”. It was published just before his death in 1917. Another Croix de Guerre was awarded after his death. He is buried outside Paris in the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial.

This monument was sent by the French Government in late

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1917. It was placed at the James Rogers McConnell Hospital at Farm Life School in rural Moore County, N.C. The well could not supply enough water and the hospital and monument were moved to Pinehurst, N.C. Later it was moved to the old Town Hall in Carthage. In 2010 the Carthage Town Board approved a request by Roland Gilliam to relocate the monument to his airport. The airport is names Gilliam-McConnell Airfield. The James Rogers McConnell Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association is headquartered here. Plans are to build a museum bearing his name across the runway. Roland and Nancy Gilliam donated the land that this memorial occupies to the Town of Carthage.

Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • War, World I. A significant historical date for this entry is March 19, 1917.

Location. 35° 20.45′ N, 79° 26.211′ W. Memorial is near Carthage, North Carolina, in Moore County. It is on Gilliam McConnell Road 0.2 miles west of Dowd Road, on the right when traveling west. Marker is located next to the parking lot within the Gilliam-McConnell Airfield. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 194

Photographed by Forest McDermott, September 4, 2015

2. James Rogers McConnell Marker

This marker on the left next to the original French marker and the translation marker.

Gilliam McConnell Rd, Carthage NC 28327, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this memorial is in North Carolina’s Piedmont.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: James McConnell (here, next to this marker); Biography of Robert Hoyle Upchurch (here, next to this marker); Lt. Robert "Hoyle" Upchurch (here, next to this marker); East Meets West (here, next to this marker); Ret. SFC Zeb D. Harrington and The "Junkyard Dog" (a few steps from this marker); Carthage Methodist Church (approx. 1.1 miles away); Carthage Methodist Cemetery (approx. 1.1 miles away); Buggy Company (approx. 1.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Carthage.

Photographed by Forest McDermott, September 4, 2015

3. James Rogers McConnell Marker

Wider view of the three markers which are all related to one another.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 20, 2017. It was originally submitted on June 14, 2017, by Forest McDermott of Masontown, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 562 times since then and 43 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on June 14, 2017, by Forest McDermott of Masontown, Pennsylvania. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.