There never was a man named Ace Mathews. That is true in real life, and just as true in this fictional account. In the story, Ace’s real name is Delmar. His last name was printed in above the birth certificate line for father. No father had been crossed out and the name, Mathews printed above.
He became Ace Mathews when he was flying a Model B Wright airplane and touring with a circus. He was billed as a dare devil boy aviator. Europe was in a terrible war. Men who were able to shoot down five enemy planes were heroes and called aces. The name Ace looked better on a circus poster than Delmar.
Some years later, Ace did become an ace. In the last weeks of World War I, he shot down five German planes. He would go on to become an ace again in the Spanish Civil War. He shot down four Italian planes and one German. The last was an ME 109. British intelligence was interested. During the air battle for Britain, Ace did it again. He was credited with five kills and probably more. In this fight, he was not known as Ace Mathews. His new name was Archibald McFetters, and he was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
When Ace shot down his fifth German plane on the last day of World War I, other German planes swarmed in and shot him down. He crashed in no-man’s-land, the nose of the plane partly buried in a tree stump and the tail sticking up in the air. German soldiers on the ground fired at the tail. A black American soldier named Joe Washington had watched the aerial battle from his position in a trench. He thought the pilot might have survived the crash. He leaped from the trench and dashed to the plane. He knew the Germans were firing at him.
He pulled Ace from the plane and dragged him into a nearby shell hole. Ace had a deep gash on the left side of his face. Both of his legs were broken. Joe patched up the wound on Ace’s face, but there was nothing that could be done about the legs.
The two men remained in the hole until the armistice went into effect at 11 a.m. Both men knew the war was supposed to stop at that time. While they waited, they talked. Ace was surprised to see a black man at the front. Joe told him that he was a member of the 369th Regiment, an American regiment composed of Negro troops. The regiment had been turned over to the French, and was not under American command.
Joe told Ace that he was going to try to stay in France after the war. Ace told Joe that he did not really care where he was as long as he was flying. As it turned out, Ace stayed in France after the war because it took a long time for his legs to mend. Joe was shipped home. He did return to France, however, because his sister, Cassie, had connections. Cassie was a dedicated member of the Communist Party. It was essential that she leave the United States. The Party officials in Paris arranged for the brother and sister to come to Paris where they got jobs as a cook and as a bartender.
Joe and Ace were reunited and a great friendship grew even stronger. Cassie, from the start, feared and hated Ace. Maybe her name was short for Cassandra?

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