Interesting story about Chinese spy balloon and a WWI ace and MOH recipient.
From Historia Obscurum FB page:
The recent bizarreness with U.S. Air Force jets shooting down a balloon this week made me think of this man, 2nd Lieutenant Frank Luke, Jr., an American fighter pilot during the First World War who received the Medal of Honor for shooting down 14 enemy observation balloons.
Apparently I wasn't the only one who made that connection because, according to U.S. Air Force General Glen D. VanHerck (Commander, United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command), the two flights of F-22 Raptor fighters sent to shoot down the balloon this week were given the call signs "Frank01" and "Luke01" after the World War 1 ace, who was nicknamed "The Arizona Balloon Buster."
During the First World War, observation balloons were a hazard because they gave the enemy a bird's-eye view of troop movements and helped guide artillery onto targets. Shooting them down saved lives on the ground.
Lieutenant Luke was shot down and killed near Murvaux, France, five weeks before the war's end. He was only 21 years old.
Luke Air Force Base in Arizona is named for him.