It is estimated now that 50 to 100 million people (quite a range of uncertainty!) were killed by the flu, which is 5 to 10 times as many as WWI killed. And those deaths came fast. According to Barry, it appears that more than 5 percent of the world's population died, most during a twelve-week period in 1918.
Looking at these little aircraft a hundred years later, we should remember these quaint, colorful planes were the cutting-edge technology that was such a fearsome part of the German war machine that they were mentioned in the conditions of the Armistice.
"As sparsely populated and isolated as Haskell was, the virus infecting the county might well have died there, might well have failed to spread to the outside world. That would be so except for one thing: this was wartime."
Meanwhile, the Germans would concentrate more on training and also would be fighting more defensively, conserving their aircraft and pilots. By the fall of 1918, the fortunes of German ground forces would be declining, but the German air force would have some of its best months of the war.
Sent to Georgia as a crew chief, he was soon promoted to corporal in a machine gun unit. While training on the aircraft, Jack got the scare of a lifetime. The pilot turned off their engine midair! (Thankfully, he turned it back on. It was all part of their training exercise.)
Training complete, his squadron was ready for deployment when the flu struck. Hard. Jack was confined to his pup tent, and his meals were dropped off outside. The squadron left without him.
