Dear Bert, An American pilot flying in World War I Italy

George M.D. Lewis was one of 400 American pilots trained at Foggia, Italy, in 1917-18, under Capt. Fiorello H. LaGuardia. In July 1918, he copiloted the first American flight across the Alps. During service and travels in Italy and France he encountered personalities of the time, inlcuding Gianni Caproni, Luigi Rizzo and Ernest Hemingway. Lewis’ photographs, dated journal entries, and excerpts from his letters to his sweetheart, Bert Harsch, shed new light on the glamorous era of World War I aviation.