By Captain Don Baier
Ever wonder why the airfield at Prescott Airport is named after First Lieutenant Ernest A. Love? Maybe you’ve seen his statue outside the airport atrium. You may even know of Prescott’s Ernest A. Love Post 6 American Legion that supports and advocates for veterans in our community. Ernest and his mother demonstrate the best of humanity – the helping hand, hard work and the heroic heart.
Ernest Alexander Love was born in Raton, New Mexico, in 1895 to Allan Love, a Scottish immigrant who worked with the railroad, and his wife Louretta Love (also known as “Etta”). Ernest’s family moved to Prescott when he was three years old. By the time he was eight, he had heard about the Wright brothers and fell in love with the dream of flying. He formed a close bond with his neighbor’s younger children, looking after them and writing to them throughout his short life. Much of what we know about Ernest comes from his letters to neighbors, family, and friends.
In 1912 he was a football hero at Prescott High. According to Alan L. Roesler’s book, An American Aviator in France The Life of Ernest A. Love, 147th Aero Squadron, USAS, Ernest excelled in math and science. In 1914 he went to Stanford to study mechanical engineering, likely contributing to the respect he earned from aircraft mechanics while fighting in World War I. The Stanford Glee Club provided an opportunity to attend a music festival in Hawaii. Ever-thoughtful, he brought back a ukulele for his young Prescott neighbor, Ameilia, teaching her to play it during the summer. By his junior year, in 1917, war was raging in Europe, and he took on the challenge of flight, joining the Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (R.O.T.C). While waiting in New York to be sent to Europe, he received his Lieutenant’s commission on December 23, 1917. In harrowing letters from Europe, he described flying close enough to other planes to see their tail numbers, being fired upon, burning out his engine and risking catching it on fire. He flew against tyranny and invasion in a distant land and laid down his life in a French field.
Ernest’s character impressed all who met him. Roesler notes that a fellow officer, James Meisser, stated he was “very well liked by us all, both for his fearless flying and for his personality.” A French civilian who met him when Ernest landed a plane near his house, claimed that the American pilot would “always have a friend in Maurice L. Du Vergen.”
When her son first went missing, Etta wrote to everyone Ernest mentioned in his letters home, trying to track him down. Letters from war officials to Etta begin to unravel the mystery of how Ernest died during his 22nd mission over St. Mihiel, France, in 1918. Etta had three sons. She lost them all. The challenge of bringing her middle son, Ernest home would take years. His body was buried in two successive places in Europe before his mother was able to bring her son home, to be interred at the Arlington National Cemetery in the USA.
At 5pm on August 11, Sharlot Hall Museum will host Captain Don Baier’s Twilight Tales presentation, “Ernest Love: Prescott’s Hometown Hero and a Mother’s Devotion” , the story of the man who became a hometown hero, his mother and the community that loved and supported him. It utilizes compelling photos, letters and other archive materials from the Sharlot Hall Museum. Captain Baier’s four-decade experience in the Air Force, airline pilot experience and 34 years as a Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Docent give him a unique understanding of First Lieutenant Ernest Love.
“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.archives.sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles/1. The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org Please contact SHM Research Center reference desk at 928-277-2003, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.